#and informs!

marking time is a procedure/skill used in marching band, where one is marching/holding time with their legs in place.

if you're not in marching band, you may picture marching as the high-knee Big Step kind of march, but that's not what i'm talking about here. i'm talking about a small, simple repetitive movement to a steady pace.

this video is the best, most simple and short visual example i've been able to find, and even this has a lot of info you don't need-- it's all about just raising your heels one at a time to a beat. and i don't even raise mine as high as this guy does in the video!

it's a small enough form of exercise that it barely actually feels hard-- and even that, only at first. the more you do it, the more effortless it becomes. nonetheless, it gets your blood moving, gets your knees moving, gets your hips moving, and even doubles as a form of stimming!

motion truly is lotion, and this technique both prevents my knees from locking up over long periods of time AND soothes the aches in my knees after i have had to lock them and strain them.

(small note, this should also be pretty discreet if you're doing it right-- your top half should barely be moving. this technique was designed for people to be able to paly instruments while doing it!)