Make Walking Fun – 3 Styles of Walking Plus a BONUS!
It’s important to keep active to keep the body strong. We need to keep our legs strong so they carry us far in life. We want to stay independent and be able to get around well without limitations. This is why it’s important to focus your time and energy on keeping your legs strong.
Walking is a great way to exercise the legs but there are different types of walking that can make it more interesting.
So here’s a great help tip I’d like to share regarding 3 different ways to enjoy walking.
There’s the typical brisk walk that can strengthen leg and back muscles and provide a little cardio exercise for our hearts. Walking outside, breathing in the fresh air and taking in all the colors, sounds and energy vibrations from the natural surroundings – so good for the body!
The next 2 styles are something different…
Tai Chi Slow-Motion Walking (aka immortal stepping)
I learned a great exercise from one of my fav Tai Chi instructors named Brian Cooper. This exercise was called Immortal Stepping – walk 100 steps a day and you live forever! So I got that going for me….I tried to make a funny, anyways…
Tai Chi is a wonderful exercise but to do it every day you have to memorize the whole form unless you live with a Tai chi master who you can follow along with.
An important characteristic in practicing the Tai Chi form is slow meditative movement.
This style of movement requires us to be more mentally focused on what we are doing. Taking a step forward very slowly requires us to balance on the opposite leg longer until the forward advancing foot is firmly planted on the ground. This movement will not only develop better leg strength but also increase mental focus.
Sometimes inclement weather prevents us from enjoying that brisk walk outside so why not stay inside and walk up and down a hallway in your house very, very slowly. Let your mental focus sink down through the weight leg that you are balancing on while you advance your other foot forward at a comfortable pace to maintain better balance. Then shift your weight to the forward leg and maintain balance as you advance the back leg forward. Don’t look down at your feet.
Try to keep your eyes level. Use your mind to reach out to your body and develop a deeper level of mental awareness and mind-body connectivity.
Last style…
Breath Walking
Anytime you have a chance to walk a bit, even if you park your car at the far end of the store so you can have a chance to walk a ways at a steady pace before reaching your destination, try breath walking.
Synchronize your breathing with your steps – take 2 steps as you inhale and then take 2 steps as you exhale. You need to find a comfortable pace to start. You don’t want to feel uncomfortable with your breathing or walking. This too is a meditative style of exercise – transform yourself into a breath walker!
Here we are harmonizing the mind, the body and the breathing – together they become one. This is a key to good health. These are these hidden secrets within Tai Chi as an exercise that are health rejuvenating.
Stress causes the mind, the body and the breathing to become chaotic – not working together or getting along. The mind is too busy, the body is not reflecting what the mind is creating and becomes tense and the breathing becomes shallow.
But with breath walking your body glides along as you consciously synchronize your breathing with your steps and it can become very relaxing and soothing for that unsettling state of busy mindedness.
Doing before going to bed – you may find you sleep better.
As a challenge you can try to slow your breathing and make it longer – take 3 steps as you inhale and 3 steps as you exhale. Get into a rhythm and see how far you can go. If it’s easy go up to 4 steps inhale and 4 steps exhale. If you are ever uncomfortable back it down to the previous number of steps and then try again.
BONUS!!!
I have one more bonus style of walking to try…
Walking in Place
This is easy to do at home and it’s a great way to unwind before going to bed. Swing your arms forward and back to engage your shoulder muscles. Breathe deeply to oxygenate the body deeply. Lift your knees up high to engage those leg muscles.
This doesn’t have to be vigorous and make you sweat. Just encourage deeper breathing get some gentle movement going. Do it for 10 to 20 minutes each night, about an hour before bed time and see how you sleep.
I hope you find this article helpful. Please share it and spread the health around.
