Movement and the body. What February and March require.

My son has a specific winter problem: by the end of February, he has been insufficiently active for weeks. Not through illness or injury — through the accumulation of cold, dark days that make going outside feel optional rather than necessary. The option not to go outside gets chosen, repeatedly, until the cumulative effect of insufficient physical activity begins to show — in mood, in sleep, in frustration tolerance.

The solution is not complex. It is twenty minutes outside, three times a week, doing something that raises the heart rate. Not exercise as performance — exercise as maintenance. Like brushing teeth, but for the nervous system.

The body is sending a signal in February. The signal is: not enough. Not enough movement, not enough outdoor light, not enough aerobic activity. The signal shows up as irritability, disrupted sleep, reduced frustration tolerance. These are not character problems. They are biology problems. Biology problems have biology solutions. This is the specific thing that produces the change. The change comes from the practice. The practice comes from the decision to try it once, this week, in the ordinary moment that is already available. This is the specific thing that produces the change. The change comes from the practice. The practice comes from the