Sublime

For two hundred thousand years, our body’s appetite and weight-control systems functioned well. They even worked during the US boom years from the 1940s through the 1970s, when food was just as abundant as it is today. And just like today, almost everyone had an automobile—we weren’t walking everywhere—and jogging and gym-going were relatively rare

Our unquenchable desire to be comfortable has debilitated us. Ironic, as there is nothing comfortable about being debilitated. This paradox—that advancements to make our lives less physically taxing have taxed us physically—is profound and has led to an emergent scientific hypothesis: Perhaps the only way out of our poor physical state, created by

“Humans really are obligatorily required to do aerobic exercise in order to stay healthy, and I think that has deep roots in our evolutionary history,” Dr. Lieberman said. “If there’s any magic bullet to make human beings healthy, it’s to run.”

lithe

Stephen W. Porges, The Pocket Guide to the Polyvagal Theory: The Transformative Power of Feeling Safe Elizabeth Blackburn and Elissa Epel, The Telomere Effect: A Revolutionary Approach to Living Younger, Healthier, Longer

Sarno, John E. Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection (New York: Grand Central Life & Style, 2010).