The movements that are made when walking produce the effect of a massage on the whole body, which relaxes and is filled with energy. Acting on the rhythm, breathing, gaze or consciousness the benefits multiply.
Before learning to speak we receive a gift that exalts our body by improving our physical, mental and spiritual abilities, and helping us in the process of living: walking.
When there is time for few things and yet the body cries out for some kind of training or the doctor advises it kindly, it is easy to have somewhere on hand where it is possible to take a walk or take a walk.
Walking is an easy remedy to reduce restlessness in everyday life: when we feel the pressure at work, we lack the breath when climbing the stairs or worries do not let us sleep.
Walking regulates blood pressure and cholesterol, massages the heart, is beneficial against rheumatism, arthritis and osteoarthritis, and activates muscles, bones and different body systems. It thus provides the necessary energy to resume the activities of the day serene and relaxed, cheerful and at peace with oneself.
WALKING IS AN EXCLUSIVELY HUMAN MOVEMENT
When the first human being stopped going on all fours and stood up, he separated the movement of the upper body from that of the lower one, so he stopped walking like monkeys. Human beings, to take a step forward, while advancing the right foot next to the right leg and hip, we also advance the rib cage, the left arm and hand. In the next step, we follow the reverse process, making slight twists that distinguish our walk.
According to scientists, this event marks the beginning of a change for the human being and has three fundamental consequences:
- It influences the size and capacity of the brain, which develops to how we know it today
- Expands the nervous system’s ability to transmit movement to the brain
- Being able to easily turn the head and also turn on itself, the human being expands his field of vision to 360º and organizes the dynamics of the body according to that change.
HOW TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF MOVEMENT
Heterogeneous movement of the pelvis and rib cage are essential for speeding up the nervous system and brain. How is it activated? First warning if there is movement in these parts of the body when we walk. If there is not, we will perform the following exercise:
- We hugged each other bringing the right arm and hand to the left shoulder blade, and the left arm and hand, to the right. In this position, we walk.
- If we still do not distinguish the movements of the hip and rib cage, we will take long and fast steps. We will notice that the body reacts and that the rib cage moves in an arc to the right side when advancing with the left foot, and in an arc to the left, when advancing with the right. We take 50 steps.
- Then we invert the arms, that is, the arm that is above is placed below. We take 50 more steps feeling how the movement between the rib cage and the hips breaks down.
- We let go of our arms and walk as usual. We will notice that our walk has become more mobile and lighter. The breath is released and a pleasant feeling of freedom runs through the body.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE GAZE WHEN WALKING
Every human being when he begins to walk repeats the same process. Just observe babies to learn different ways to help us with walking. When the baby leaves the floor and with great effort, clinging to the legs of a table, stands up, the first thing that activates are the eyes. He observes the colors that attract him and where he directs his gaze begins the movement. Hundreds of muscles, the nervous system and part of the brain are set in motion so you can start walking.
It is the eyes that are responsible for organizing the body to address movement. This organization must be repeated many times to become a habit and internalize the process. But there comes a time in adult life when it becomes routine. To change the acquired patterns and that walking becomes a revitalizing practice again, you can perform the following exercise:
- Take twenty steps in a straight line looking straight ahead, opening the field of vision up, down and to the sides.
- Then another twenty looking slightly to the left, without deviating.
- As many looking to the right, twenty looking at the ground and twenty looking at the sky.
- Then he continues walking with his gaze straight ahead, opening the field of vision to distinguish what happens to the left, to the right, up and down, without trying to look or observe, but only to see.
- With this exercise walking will be renewed and will give us a more complete vision of the sky that protects us and the ground that welcomes us. The feeling of overwhelm and oppression will be transformed into breadth and generosity.
RELAXATION ALSO WALKS
If you pay attention to the process of walking, we will see that it is done between tension and relaxation. If we support the latter with thought, the process becomes a method of relaxation.
There are also techniques to improve body posture when walking. The benefit we get from walking depends on how the body is positioned.
When it is well aligned, it does not have to endure unnecessary stresses and communicates and organizes better to transmit energy. Perform the following exercises when walking on different types of surfaces:
- Flat surfaces. If we walk on a flat surface, it is advisable, when reaching the desired pace, to start a visualization that will provide us with energy. We imagine a light that goes up: first we see it in the perineum, then in the lower belly, we go up to the solar plexus to pass to the heart, then to the throat, we continue between the eyes and finally just above the head.
- On a moving tape. If we walk on a mobile treadmill, we will program the walk we need according to the weight and height. We’ll start with a smooth program. The programs contemplate the process of acceleration and deceleration at the beginning and end of the walk.
- In the mountains. If we climb the slope of a mountain with a steep slope, we must place the trunk almost parallel to the ground to facilitate the work of the legs and back. If we go down the slope, we must leave the foot relaxed on the ground and bend the knees at each step, making bellows with the leg and hip to cushion the impact of the body on the knees.
- On the beach. Walking on the sand of the beach with bare feet or through a meadow is pleasant and is a great massage for the feet. In the first case, we will walk near the waves wetting our feet in them to receive the massage of the sea and accept their salts, which the body will appreciate.
CHOOSE SUITABLE FOOTWEAR FOR WALKING
But regardless of how or where you walk, walking starts with your feet. They are the ones who support the weight of the body at every step dynamically. That is why it is essential to choose good walking shoes.
It is important that it weighs little – it is not advisable to drag extra kilos – and must have a good support: what best holds are the shoes with laces, better than those of Velcro or moccasin type.
And, of course, it is not advisable to take long and tortuous walks if we put on shoes with a little heel.
From there it is enough to carry a bottle of water to hydrate and try to transport little weight. If you carry some weight, it is preferable that it be in a backpack tight to the body.
BREATHING WHEN WALKING
Normally, for a smooth walk of a quarter of an hour, breathing does not require preparation. Its unconscious mechanisms with its wisdom accumulated in our genes over years and generations place it where it should be and activate it as needed.
If you are going to perform an athletic walk, you start walking gently for five minutes and then accelerate the march for five more minutes until you reach the desired pace.
Automatically, we will perceive that the unconscious breath is maintained at a rhythm. Our only task will be to consciously help the rhythm of the march and, in turn, that of the breath that we have acquired.
If we still notice that we are out of breath, we will prepare the systems and apparatus involved in breathing – lungs, diaphragm, nervous system, brain and the muscles that join the ribs and rib cage – to respond to the needs of our walk, be it an athletic walk, a walk or up or down a slope. To do this we will perform the following exercise standing, sitting or lying on the floor:
- We perceive the place where we locate the breath, the duration of inspiration, expiration and pauses, if any, and also its rhythm.
- We breathe in normally and then exhale almost completely, stop and get a little more air, in the form of syncopation. We stop again and exhale syncopating twice more and then count to five without taking air. We inspire again and repeat the whole process three times.
- We pay attention to how the location of the air; its duration and quality have changed. We repeat the exercise but syncopating three times at the end of inspiration, stop, count five and exhale.
- After this exercise we will observe that our breathing capacity increases, lengthens, occupies more space in the body. We already have our breath ready to walk.
A LONG ROAD STARTS WITH A STEP
When we feel willing and have tried the different ways of walking suggested, we will stop thinking about it. The body has memory and will remember them. One of the great qualities of walking is that it can be done at any time of the day and does not require any complementary gadget.
So let us walk. Let us enjoy the moment, the landscape, the sky, the movement, the joy with which the cells exchange energy while we walk and let ourselves be infected by their joy and generosity.