Walking

Walking is underestimated for its value as exercise and therapy. Walking is a simple practice which can bring you health and a deeper awareness of your environment. By walking where you live, you can become a more engaged member of your community. 

The U.S. is a challenging place to walk generally. The obsession with and dependence on the wheel to get from one point to another has created a tangled mess of roads, highways and train tracks. Urban dwellers will often sit in traffic longer than it would take to walk to their destination or to a public transit conveyance. As they sit, chat or text on their mobile phones, and also eat, their waist bands stretch and their health deteriorates. 

I walk daily. I walk to do certain errands within my area. I also schedule a daily walk for pleasure. A one-hour walk on flat terrain is between three and four miles, depending on the pace and leg length of the walker. In the city, it pays to plan a route which will form a circuit: Going out from home on one route and returning from another. Familiarity with several routes I use helps me to feel relaxed, interact with people along the way and to appreciate my environment. 

On two occasions, walking brought me back from disability. Slowly developing my endurance every day by walking to my best ability brought me back from using a walker to walking miles every day. The walking rebuilt my confidence, as well as my muscle strength. 

There is a minor down side. You will find you need to buy shoes more frequently. A good shoe is essential for comfortable walking for an hour or more, even on flat paved terrain. It is important to check the soles of your shoes regularly. As soles fail, joints are stressed in different ways which can lead to discomfort or even joint stress. 

I have worked out countless problems on my walks. I sleep extremely well as long as I walk for an hour or more a day. My digestive system works much better with my daily walking regime.  Any neighborhood becomes more friendly if you walk through it regularly with your head up and an open smile for strangers. Part of our alienation from each other and from our environment comes from our lack of physically being on our streets in a relaxed and open way. Walking fuels my humanism by getting me in touch with other human beings in my greater environment.