The Leisure of Walking

Imagine a long leisurely stroll through a beautiful woodland.  Tall trees arch overhead as moving shadows flit about the path. Gravel crunches beneath your feet and you move forward, pulled by the vast and endless sky. Buds are swelling and everything is shifting gently upward to the tune of birdsong.  An old stone pine, bristling but cheerful, elegantly frames the vista beyond. You can just barely feel the sun on your skin when you notice a growing bank of clouds darkening the distance. 

What is the problem if people don’t see for miles anymore?  In our modern experience, the city blocks out all views.  Where is the expansiveness in our perspective?  As the city grids out nature, suburban settlements pave the earth, block the view and constrain the vision. Automobiles pollute the air and disappearing sidewalks make even walking perilous.  The grid is laid, the trap is set….but just a few minutes or miles away there must be a patch of wild into which you can escape.

Walking used to be a necessity.  Prior to the mass production of automobiles, humans walked eight or nine miles daily in order to accomplish their daily tasks.  This could be school, work, recreation, family visits, shopping, or other errands like banking and posting letters.  Earlier on, it was hunting and gathering, scouting, community, and trade. While all this is true, I have it on good authority that lady authors of etiquette manuals for women have deplored the dearth of walking by young people in their day for hundreds of years.  It was either horses or the carriage they were railing against back then but the adults of every day seem to recall much more perambulation when they were young.

Virtues of Walking

The virtues of walking and its benefits on everything from temper to physique have been praised to high heaven throughout the years and I mean beginning as early as 680 B.C.  Eastern Philosophers I am not even aware of have probably been singing the virtues of walking since before then.  That is nearly a solid three thousand years since the human race has divined a means of covering ever more vast distances.  Throughout those years, wise and intelligent people have recognized the fundamental human need to walk.  

Walking can connect us to nature, providing a perspective on the larger world and the calm energy of plants. Walking enables us to move our thoughts, giving us time and solitude to work through problems or emotions. Walking moves lymph through the body that balances our immune system and facilitates oxygenation of the blood via the concentrated muscles of the calves. Walking after eating facilitates digestion and reduces blood sugar by directing it to your moving muscles.

Stepping in Time

The time of day also affects the benefits.  An early morning jaunt helps us feel more alert by increasing circulation and the intake of natural light into the brain.  You are also fasted at that time so calorie burning is optimized.  Sauntering out in the evening can lower cortisol and affords priceless sunset views.  Try walking in a picturesque neighborhood for a fun and unusual date.  Ambling around after meals mellows out the blood sugar spike that accompanies food in addition to facilitating digestion.  A mid-afternoon shamble can reinvigorate us for an afternoon’s focused productivity or simply stave off the doldrums.  Evening perambulations can help you wind down from the day.

Time is a Luxury...

The time required to walk nine miles is two to three hours, depending on your pace.  Who has that amount of time?  Not only one day a week but at least six days a week.  Time management is required now in order to ‘achieve that level’ of leisure.  merica is not designed to support daily walking.  Most people commute an un-walkable number of miles to work and then stop off at the store on the way home if they don’t just order takeout.  However, there are plenty of opportunities.  You ought to be able to walk to the grocery store.  

Physical Limitations

The second aspect of the leisure of walking is the physical ability to walk up to ten miles per day in all types of weather and over varied terrain. I am not speaking of women hiking eight miles every day up and down canyons to fetch water in a remote Peruvian village where I helped build and install a well and cistern as part of Engineers without Borders.  I am speaking of walking across fields, streams, slopes, dirt roads and sidewalks.  Many are constrained to only paved sidewalks and this presents an advantage for keeping the shoes relatively clean.  How far can you walk in a day without oversleeping the next?  If two to three miles seems a far distance to walk, stop reading and get outside.  Walk around the block to get started and keep walking.  Build your endurance.  

Apart from physical fitness, there can be physical limitations that prevent us from walking without pain.  Do you notice imbalances in soreness after longer walks or even with prolonged sitting?  Most often our bodies experience pain from either misuse or disuse. Unresolved injuries or stored trauma can also cause problems.  See a doctor by all means but if you have tried everything, don’t give up.  Check in with your nervous system to see if that helps anything shift. 

It ain’t all Blue Skies 

Mankind distinguishes itself by the ability to control our environment. Given the prevalence of air conditioning and automobiles, I wonder hom many of us have coats or hats suitable for outdoor use, anymore?

Prepare to step out in all types of weather with a minimalist outerwear capsule that includes waterproof boots, an umbrella, scarf and a trench coat for spring. For summer, a crusher or sunhat, sunglasses and a lightweight, unlined linen coat will keep the sun off. Reuse your trench coat and boots for autumn but change the scarf. For Winter, a down coat, wateproof boots, gloves and a toque or beanie will keep you warm.

Praxis

Walking is both rare and valuable.  Thus, it fits into our framework of curated habits that build a leisurely and luxurious life. 

• Begin by taking a ten to fifteen minute walk after every meal. The window for lowering blood sugar is about an hour to an hour and a half after you eat; just enough time to clean up or help your child with homework.

  • All these fifteen minute walks add up to two to three miles and that is a very good start.

  • After a few weeks, you will have become the kind of person who enjoys walking after every meal.

• Second, locate your closest grocery store and walk there, just once per week for groceries. It should take you under an hour to walk there and home again. Keep this in mind when you want to slow down after a hard day's work. You can walk to the store and pick up something to make a simple dinner.

• Next, map a three mile route centered on your home. Avoid streets with heavy traffic. The route should traverse through a park or around a natural area, and include scenic or tree-lined streets if possible.

• Walk your three mile route clockwise in the morning. Aim to walk fifteen minute miles or faster. This will take an hour, including clothing and footwear concerns.

  • Take your dog if you have one but if you do, you probably already walk your dog at least once a day, I would hope. Continue to do this until it becomes second nature to get out of bed and walk.

• Last but not least, walk your three mile route in the evening, after dark but a few hours before going to sleep. If it is a loop, walk in the opposite direction, or counter-clockwise.

Congratulations, you now have the leisure to walk six to nine miles per day. Moreover, you have three hours per day of movement scheduled into the beginning, middle and end-cap of your day. Your body will reward you with a craving, called function lust, for this daily movement. Just like your body will crave the daily dousing you gift to yourself.