Did you know that your ability to sit down cross-legged on the floor, and stand up again without using your hands, is a predictor of your lifespan? Or that losing your ability to stand on one leg (something that happens over the age of fifty unless you practice) increases the likelihood that you will be seriously injured in a fall?

In the late 2000s, Kelly and Juliet Starrett coined the term mobility, a kind of wonky term that refers to something quite beautiful: the harmonious convergence of all the elements that allow you to move freely and effortlessly through space and life. A mobility-based practice isn’t exercise. It doesn’t involve cardio or strength training. It’s not about personal bests. Instead it’s a series of simple activities that enhance your capacity for free and easy movement, and in doing so also improve all the systems in your body (digestive, circulatory, immune, lymphatic) that benefit from putting your body in motion. Mobility primes the body for your best possible life.

Built to Move introduces readers to the idea that using their body the way it’s supposed to be used is the secret to avoiding pain and counteracting the effects of sedentary living. It boils the benefits of mobility practice down to the foundational essentials that allow everyone to use their body with elegance and ease. Most of these practices are not things you’re going to hear or read about anywhere else, and they will entirely transform the way you feel.