Less Sitting, More Movement

I’m watching high school cross-country runners come back from a 5-mile practice run. Before they left, they were quiet, murmuring in little groups. Now they are jubilant, loud, talking, and kidding in the big group with all sorts of happy endorphins running through their systems.

I’ve also noticed that conversations can often flow better when I’m walking with someone. It’s like we are both facing the same way, we’re going there together, we’re more aligned.

What if we've got it all wrong in our work lives? We sit all the time. We sit and discuss stressful topics in meetings. We sit and listen to speakers. We sit opposite our co-workers.

What if we invited more social movements into our meetings and events?

Here are some ideas:

• For small groups sharing ideas, pose a question and have individuals ponder it silently for 1 minute. Then pair up and go for a 15-minute walk, to allow time to share and develop ideas together. Record ideas by speaking them into Notes, Evernote, or another note-taking app. Return to the big group for reflection.

• Topic walks - Similar to roundtables, where people opt in to the topic they care about most, a leader sparks the discussion, and participants break into pairs to discuss while they stroll.

• Walking break - Got a long session? Take a walking break in the middle, lead everyone in two loops around the room, and it will reenergize the group. (I experimented with this idea with a group of 100-ish recently in Boston. It worked! And it took more time than I expected, so add a few more minutes to your agenda.)

How can you inject more social movement into your events?