One. One. One. Two. One. One. Three. Four. One. One. One. One... That's the number of people in the cars that zoom past me on my daily walks. Most are big, high occupancy vehicles wheeling down the street with driver only behind the wheel. But lets be honest: Cars aren't going to disappear anytime soon. As much havoc as they wreak on the environment, think of the economic disaster that would ensue if they were to vanish tomorrow.
I consider myself lucky to not own a car. I'm fortunate to live in a place where work is a short jaunt and there are plenty of services nearby with others accessible by a bus or trolley ride. Where I live, it would be more of a hassle to drive to the grocery store rather than walking there and carrying the stuff back home. After all, people do pay serious bucks to schlep all kinds of things across parking lots during boot camp. Why not put it to use?
We spend the day driving from one box to the next. We leave the house (box) in the morning, get in the car (box), and drive to work (box). Then after work we drive (car box again) to the gym (box), and back home (box) again. We put the miles on our cars, but our legs don't get much action.
Walking is an integrating activity for our body: top to bottom, front to back, left to right. Without giving it much thought (if any) we put one foot in front of the other and away we go! It's a great way to burn calories, about 250 per hour. When you're on foot take long, thoughtful strides along with deep breaths. With age, those steps become shorter and shorter and soon we're not walking but shuffling down the street side-to-side. Lead with your pelvis, your center of gravity, rather than leaning forward with your chest. And as much as possible, keep your chin up glancing downward with your eyes rather than your entire head.
A teacher once said that walking was like dancing: sometimes you're in step, sometimes you're not. But practice and the beauty of it becomes apparent.
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