Description

A New Scientist best book of 2021

Shortlisted for the ‘Sports Performance Book of the Year’ Award for 2022

Did you know that walking can improve your cognitive skills? That strengthening your muscular core reduces anxiety? That light stretching can combat a whole host of mental and bodily ailments, from stress to inflammation? We all know that exercise changes the way you think and feel. But scientists are just starting to discover exactly how it works.

In Move!, Caroline Williams explores the emerging science of how movement opens up a hotline to our minds. Interviewing researchers and practitioners around the world, she reveals how you can work your body to improve your mind. As lockdown throws us back on our own mental and physical resources, there is no better time to take control of how you think and feel.

Publisher Review

Fascinating * Women's Health * In this rigorously reported and entertaining account, Williams offers a genuinely new perspective on the links between how we move and how we think and feel, forcing us to rethink our assumptions about the distinction between body and mind -- Alex Hutchinson, author * Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance * Our bodies are designed to be in motion, and our minds suffer when they aren't. Move! is science writing at its absolute best: lucid, informative, authoritative, fascinating - and very very important -- Guy Claxton, author * Intelligence In The Flesh * A letter to an "I think, therefore I am" culture that knows our bodies need exercise, but imagines our minds as somehow separate. Williams reveals ways folks can reconnect their mind to body, and their body to movement. Even if you already "get" that exercise makes you feel better, Move! enhances the picture so you can see how the researched details fit together -- Katy Bowman, author * Move Your DNA * Caroline Williams has created a true movement manifesto that made me want to get out of my chair. In fact, I read this amazing book while riding a stationary bike! Move! is a brilliantly crafted guidebook to better health for everyone, backed by science and common sense. Williams uses painstaking research, along with emotional hooks to bring the reader to the most logical conclusion: we all need to prioritize movement in our lives -- Charlie Engle, ultramarathoner and author * Running Man * I found so many jewels of information and advice in the pages of this wonderful book. I wish I could give it to my younger self as I was starting out on my career and young adulthood. I see Move! as a cross between Yuval Harari's Sapiens and Matthew Walker's Why We Sleep, juxtaposing the history and science behind how simple strategies of moving and breathing, things most of us take for granted, can quell inflammation and improve our wellness. I love the immersive role Caroline Williams takes in this book, and her inquisitive but incredulous nature allows her to shepherd the reader on this enjoyable journey, exploring how we can all lead a more fulfilling and healthier life. Definitely pick up this book. It will help change the way you spend your days, and change your outlook on life -- Joshua D. Mezrich, author * How Death Becomes Life: Notes from a Transplant Surgeon * If you've ever wondered why exercise makes you feel so good, this book provides the answers. A fascinating exploration of the body-mind connection and a compelling manifesto for movement -- Linda Geddes, author * Chasing the Sun * I have always found that working in my garden gives me a great feeling are of well-being and now, thanks to Caroline Williams, I am understanding why. The explanations in Move of the science behind connections between the brain and movement are well researched, understandable, and fascinating. So now when I'm weeding in the garden, I'll also be dancing, stretching, and breathing. My plants might not appreciate this, but my body will -- Penny Le Couteur, author * Napoleon's Buttons: How 17 Molecules Changed History * Praise for OVERRIDE: 'Williams reveals a more nuanced understanding of how our brains really work that is both empowering and insightful. * Irish Times * Williams writes in a familiar, dinner-party style, delighting guests with tales of her exploits * New York Times * It can be difficult to find quality [self-help] works within the sea of quantity ... Williams strikes a home run in this brilliantly written and expertly researched book. * Booklist *