Walking

Matt and I both enjoy walking.  We take many strolls around our neighborhood.  We take hikes in the sandstone bluffs and hills in our valley and in the mountains further west.  We follow the trails at Riverfront and Two Moon parks watching for birds.  We walk when we run errands if we can, such as to the hardware store and bank down the street.  I also walk home from work during the wintery months when I don't care to ride bicycle.  We walk in every season and there are always things to marvel at--the herd of neighborhood deer leaping backyard fences, the sun setting and melting the sky into shades of pink, purple, and orange, a hawk whirling by in pursuit of a sparrow dinner.  We greet neighbors working out in their yards and I gleefully pet any cat who will allow it.  It is a very enjoyable (and free) activity that is different on each occasion.  We always come home feeling clear, refreshed, and invigorated.  Walking improves my mood which improves my day.  

In fact, I've grown to see walking as one of the healthiest things I can do for myself.  My mood is better.  My arthritis is better.  I sleep better.  I burn calories.  I burn stress.  I have fun. 

My grandpa (on my mother's side) has also spoken to me--rather passionately--that walking is a sort of medicine.  He tells me that the people he knows who are his age (he'll be 80 this year) are always complaining about not feeling good and being tired, but that he thinks they just need to get off their butts and move and they'd feel improvement in their quality of life.  In fact, this is a common enough sentiment from my grandpa (who I might add travels the world on walking tours ever year--Australia last year--and who climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in his 60's--or was it 70's?...) that my family had t-shirts made.  They say "In the famous words of Lyle:  GOYDA (Get Off Your Dead Ass) and Move. " The family plans to wear them at the Governor's Cup run in Helena this year.  I don't think I will be able to join them, but I got myself a shirt none the less.  I wore it while doing my yoga this morning.  My sister Lisa has also seconded this notion of healing walking who regularly walks as a way to minimize arthritis pain in her feet. 

Maybe walking doesn't have a healing, transformative effect on everyone, but it sure is a cheap way to feel better for me--body and mind.