Pep Talk Archives
Motivation and Education for Walkers

    We all know that walking is good for us physically, but sometimes we forget just how helpful it can be in times of emotional upheaval, stress, or indecision. It may help if you just remember to “take the high road,” literally, when you must make a choice.
    As commonly used, “take the high road” has come to mean taking the path that is morally and ethically satisfying. It means choosing not to resort to finger pointing, character assaults, and blame making. It is not an easy path. It always demands that you make an uphill push through the initial fear, pain, or outrage that stops you at a turning point.
    When emotion blocks your way, it’s easy to panic and fight your way through. The high road urges you to step away from the crossroads long enough to check your map. Where will each path take you? What is the outcome that leads to the greatest good? The least pain?
    The answers are not easy or clear, but a good way to get started down the right path is to take a walk before taking other action. Let your arms swing as you move, so that you restore momentum and flexibility in your body. Take full, deep breaths to refresh and refuel all your cells. Imagine you are inhaling clarity and strength. Breathe out fear or anger or pain. Take big breaths. Even a few minutes of increased oxygen flow helps restore mental skills, memory, and problem solving ability.
    For me, “taking the high road” on an exercise walk can sometimes mean choosing the path that goes beside the river rather than the path that leads to the summit of a mountain trail. It means making a wise choice rather than responding to my instinct to push for the top or go for the view when I have the opportunity to hike on scenic routes.
    When a week of rain made hiking trails slick and hazardous during a recent walking vacation, I groused and grumbled and complained. Then I got out the map and reviewed my choices. Draped in a poncho and shod in heavy boots, I sloshed along trails running with water and banked with mosses that dripped in the steady rain. Eventually, the low paths led me to the “high road” reached with wise and conscious choices.
    In truth, the physical destination was less important on this trip than the spiritual one. I had wanted my steps to lead me back into step with my soul. As the hours of steady walking led to acceptance of the limits imposed by rain, I arrived at a sense of smug satisfaction, proud of myself for covering fresh ground and reaching elation at a low elevation. The low paths became the high road of wise and conscious choices.

“Whether you think you can, or think you can’t, you’re probably right.”—Henry Ford

     Whenever I quote Henry Ford in one of my walking classes, participants laugh and nod their heads knowingly. “Yep, that’s true,” they agree. We all know that our thoughts have a lot to do with what we accomplish in life. Of course, thoughts can’t protect us from disappointment, discouragement, or even from failure, but they can determine how we respond.
     I’ve been walking lately with a friend who is training to walk a marathon. Although I’m not planning to join her for the event, I wanted the challenge of increasing the length of my walks. When we set out one Sunday for an eight-mile walk, I wasn’t worried about going the distance, but I knew it would push me a bit.
     Change Your Mind: By six miles out, I could feel the weight of weariness begin to settle in my legs. We stopped to stretch and drink some water. The pause refreshed my muscles and my mind. When we returned to the path, I took control of the thoughts in my head. Instead of listening to “I’m getting tired,” I switched channels intentionally. For a while, I sang to myself: “Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay, My, oh, my, what a wonderful day.” It’s simple toolx but successful. The words perked up my energy and my step. I had changed my mind.
    My experience on the walk was a temporary change, of course. It simply stopped the mental pattern that was producing protests and replaced it with something neutral. But the outcome was that I finished the eight-mile route feeling energetic and successful.
    Cognitive Restructuring: Herbert Benson, MD, president of the Mind/Body Medical Institute of Harvard Medical School and author of Timeless Healing, says that we have the ability to rewire our brains and modify the automatic responses that limit us. Because the brain is ever-changing, we can revise thinking patterns and actually restructure neural pathways by changing the way we talk to ourselves, he says.
    Many exercises in The Spirited Walker incorporate movement with use of power statements and visual imagery so that positive messages are carried into every cell of the body. The rhythm of walking and the repetition of “Yes, I can” messages creates momentum that changes not only minds, but exercise routines.
     Say Something Nice: Take time on your next fitness walk to pay attention to what is going on in your head. When you hear yourself fretting, or complaining, or blaming, take charge of your mind and change it. Block the pattern with a new phrase. Try repeating, “I am walking, I am happy.” Just repeat the words mentally as you walk. Or, sing to yourself: “Oh what a beautiful morning, Oh, what a wonderful day, etc.” Use the power of your mind to give yourself a break from thoughts that raise doubt. “I think I can, I think I can. I know I can.”
     It’s simple. Even silly. But often successful!

    On days when you could use a boost of creative oomph to push through the ruts of low energy and sluggish mental patterns, take a tip from writers and artists—step out for a creative walk.

    “Me thinks that the moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow,” wrote essayist Henry David Thoreau.

    “Thoughts come clearly while one walks,” agrees author Thomas Mann.

    You can double the benefits of a fitness walk by stretching both your legs and your imagination.  When you open your senses fully to connect with what you encounter on your path, your steps stimulate your creativity. Walking becomes an exercise in waking up.  By actively engaging your ability to see, hear, smell and feel, you stimulate neural pathways and encourage mental activity.

   Julia Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way, says that when we walk, “our internal horizons stretch with our external ones. We walk into expanded possibility.” 

   The path to “expanded possibility” begins with willingness to pay attention and then to look for ways to connect differently with the things we often miss on our walks. The sounds of the gravel underfoot. The smell of a woodstove in the morning. The exhaust from a passing bus. The peeling paint on a picket fence. Make it an exercise in creativity to really notice the environment. Then, nudge your creativity to take another step—ask yourself what it is in you that can connect to whatever you have noticed:
          • How is your life today similar to that towering oak tree on your route?
          • What does it have in common with the rose bush in a neighbor’s yard?
          • Does the gravel at the edge of the road remind you of something in your own life?

    Maybe it’s something silly that makes you smile. Maybe it’s a memory or a metaphor. Just notice. Paying attention takes practice and focus. It wakes up your creative juices and invites you to step forward into a new relationship with the world and into an expanded appreciation for your own lively, vigorous imagination.

    Exercises from The Spirited Walker introduce walkers to other ways of being connected and aware of the environment. One method is called the “sensory scroll,” in which you focus on one sense at a time. Try a scroll on your next walk by focusing first on sight. Often, it is our dominant sense. Scroll through your environment as you walk and identify five things that you see.

    Then, move on to hearing. Identify five things you hear. Continue with five things you feel. Then, five things you smell. Smell may be challenging. Just pay attention and find as many smells as you can. Then start again and repeat the scroll, finding new impressions.

Pep Talk: Walking with Spirit

     Many athletes are familiar with the “spiritual” side of physical activity. Runners know about reaching the “runners’ high.” An internet search for “inner game” turns up dozens of books on such sports as golf, and skiing, and tennis, and soccer. The Spirited Walker explores steps to the inner game of walking. 
     Basically, when body and mind move together, in the rhythm of any physical activity, we experience a sense of wholeness that isn’t common in everyday life. In that wholeness, many people feel a connection with spirit—with a sense of joy, or awe, or peace. It bestows an overall sense of healthy, well being and reconnects us with personal truths and values.
     No matter what spiritual philosophy one holds, it is necessary to clear away the distraction of daily chatter from the mind in order to connect with spirit. Some people clear the chatter with prayer, sitting meditation, chanting, or dance. For me, walking has been a most reliable and effective way to restore wholeness of body, mind and spirit.
     If you’d like to check in with your spirit on your next walk, try these steps. Like any form of meditation, active walking meditation also is a practice. You will find you’re your ability to quiet mental chatter improves with regular repetition.

     1. Walk alone, or with a friend who is willing to walk in silence with you for at least 15 minutes.

     2. As you walk, mentally say to yourself “in” and “out” as you breathe.  Try to take full, deep breaths so that you expand the lungs.

     3. When you discover that you are thinking about the new shoes you want to buy, simply tell yourself, “not now.”  Gently.  Then return to repeating In and Out.

     4. After two or three minutes, expand your focus so that you create a cadence of breath and steps.  Count mentally, In-2-3-4, Out-2-3-4. Matching breath and steps with the mental count. When you discover that you are thinking about those shoes again, simply repeat, “not now,” gently, and then return to the count.

     5. If you find it difficult to keep your focus on the count, try substituting a four-count phrase.  “I am walk-ing; I am hap-py.”  One step per syllable. Breathe in four counts and out four counts.

     6. How do you feel at the end of 15 minutes?  At first, you may feel impatient. With practice, the harmony of body, mind, and spirit comes more quickly, bringing with it a sense of peace. renewed energy, and often greater clarity. The fruits of a healthy spirit.

Step Forward on a Path that is Good To You

     Research surrounds us with evidence that regular exercise helps protect human beings from a host of diseases. We are told that a walk will improve memory skills, deter cancer, ease the pain of arthritis, boost recovery from surgery, discourage Alzheimer’s disease. The promises go on and on.
     Yet, the Centers for Disease Control reports that only about 40 percent of Americans participate in any exercise program at all. Avoidance of disease clearly isn’t enough to motivate a change in behavior and commitment. Instant gratification is much more appealing.
     So, when you struggle to maintain a regular walking program, try focusing on the gratifying results that walking produces right away. Get immediate benefits that you can feel in better sleep, sharper thinking, and more:
     10 minutes of brisk walking boosts energy levels more than a candy bar, according to research at California State University, Long Beach.
20 minutes of brisk walking can elevate mood and reduce tension, according to studies published in The Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology.
45 minutes of walking three days a week improves mental reasoning and decision making ability, according to University of Illinois researchers
Walking is as effective as medication in combating depression and boosting mood, according to research at Duke University
     If it seems that walking offers “miracles,” remember that the miracle is movement. When you move your muscles, you pump blood and oxygen to the cells, pushing energizing fuel through your body. Walking simply triggers the miracle of human functioning, the way it was meant to work.

Keeping Pace with the Peace Movement

“Touching the earth as we walk keeps us in contact with the physical environment we live in. At the same time, we enter a magic kingdom that frees us from the constraints of daily life.” —The Spirited Walker

   Recently, a friend of mine was preparing to leave home for a meditation retreat in another state. As the departure date approached, each day became a swirl of arrangements and appointments, a hurried blur of count-down hours until the retreat that promised an interlude of peace in a busy life.
   The irony of frenzied preparations for a meditation retreat made both of us smile.  The process is familiar to everyone. We all long for moments of peace and tranquility, and then rush around in circles trying to find them.

The paths of Harmony Hill Retreat Center in Washington encourage peaceful steps.

A Foothold on Peace:
   To create peaceful interludes in your fitness walks, practice walking with mindfulness. Be aware of your feet touching the ground. Notice the sound of leaves beneath your feet, or the shuffle of gravel.  Feel the base of your foot roll along the ground from heel to toe.  By focusing on the movement of your feet, you bring your mind present and stop the spin of mental chatter that pushes you out of the moment, out of the tranquility of the moment.
   Even if your mind holds steady for only one or two steps at a time, it is a beginning. For those two steps, your feet are planted in the present. You are free for that moment from worry or fear. You create an opening for peace that may grow, with practice, into five steps, or ten.

A Handful of Energy

“Movement in the body brings movement in the mind. It is a natural alchemy.”
—The Spirited Walker

    Walkers don’t give a lot of thought to something as simple as the position of the hands when we walk. We may be aware of how our feet strike the earth, or how we hold our body upright in order to breathe fully. But the hands tend to be ignored except for those complaints about swollen fingers on a hot day or a long hike.
    Because it’s so simple, it is fun to experiment with little changes in the position of the arms and hands.  Opening your hands to the path ahead of you can bring an interesting change in how you experience a walk. It is an exercise that heightens awareness and mindfulness, bringing thoughts present in an active meditation.

Get a Sense of the Situation:
   Before you experiment with hand positions, get focused and present by spending a few minutes being fully aware of your senses. What do you see? Smell? Hear? Feel?
   If it is a glorious sunny day, you may notice the warmth of the sun.  Perhaps you smell the sweet blooms of a Daphne bush along your path. Or see the fresh growth of budding trees. Spend five minutes or so simply being present and aware of the path.
    
Take a Swing at Stress:
   If you usually walk with arms swinging naturally at your sides, you have created a rhythm that offers healthy benefits. Studies have established that the rhythmic motion of walking, and the bilateral swing of legs and arms, promotes stress release.
    If you want to pick up the pace of your walk, bend the arms at the elbow, so that they swing along the top of the hips. The bent arm creates momentum. You might experiment with the arms by switching back and forth from arms swinging fully extended at the side, to bent arms, swinging at your hips.  Notice how your pace and posture change when the arm position changes. There is no right or wrong. The position that works best at any moment depends on your goal for this particular walk.
    Fill Your Hands with Energy: With arms extended and swinging smoothly at your sides, walk a few minutes being aware of your posture and the rhythm of your movement. Let your hands hang open and relaxed as the arm swings. Then, simply turn your arms slightly so that your open palms face forward as the arms swing.
    Notice how the small change of hand position effects the position of your shoulders. You may feel the shoulders drop slightly and the chest open more fully. Think about the palms being open to the path ahead of you. Imagine the palms receiving energy from the life that surrounds you.
    To walk with open palms for a short time is a kind of symbolic stepping forward in life, open, aware, and willing to receive what lies on your path.

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Practice Makes Patterns

    Most of the time, we use the word “practice” to refer to doing things over and over as part of a learning process. Perhaps for you the word carries associations of practicing a basketball shot, or playing the clarinet, or sewing a straight seam. “Practice” is a word that recognizes the role of repetition in shaping new behaviors or skills.
    Repetition is important also in exercise and fitness programs, as long as we are practicing good habits or skills. Through practice, we can establish patterns that make daily workouts as much a part of our routine as eating breakfast. But sometimes we get lazy or hurried or sloppy, and gradually we begin to practice patterns that do not help us derive full benefit from walking workouts.
    Practice Making Healthy Patterns: It’s a good idea to do a “body scan” inventory periodically in any walking routine, to review the patterns you are practicing when you take a fitness walk.
    Get in Line: How is your posture when you walk? Have you fallen into a habit of slouching, or letting your shoulders roll forward? Be aware of keeping your body erect. Lift your torso from the ribs, to open the chest and make room for the air you need for vitality.
    Breathe with Intention: Most of us use less and less of our lung capacity as we age. Blood flow to the lower lobes of the lungs drops and our lungs lose flexibility. It doesn’t have to be that way. Practice breathing deep into the lungs. Try inhaling for four counts, or four steps. Then exhale for four steps. Practice taking full, deep breaths that increase circulation in your lungs and send energizing oxygen through your body.
    Watch Your Step: Practice keeping your gaze on the path or sidewalk about 10 feet in front of you. By looking ahead, you hold your skull in a position that keeps the body erect, and enables you to breath more easily. You also remain more aware of cracks or bumps or obstacles on your walking path.

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“The key to gratitude is awareness. Often we focus on what is missing in our lives and fail to notice the abundance that surrounds us.”

     Sometimes it seems as if no matter where we turn, life presents hurdles and challenges. We run out of time to complete an important project. We overdraw the checking account and quibble with a loved one. The scales confirm a stealthy gain. Nothing is going right.
     At times like these, I become a fretter. My mind begins to pulse with “wants” and “shoulds.” Everything would be fine if only I had a more time, more money, more confidence, or more support around the house. I worry that I am not doing enough, not working hard enough, not loving deeply enough, not exercising long enough.
     Stop the Spiral: I’ve learned to combat the downward spiral of my mind into the mire of what is wrong and what is missing by actively turning the cool-down phase of my walks into a time of awareness and gratitude.
     Focus on Appreciation: As I approach the final two blocks of a workout, I’ve made it a habit to turn my focus to the people and things that I am grateful for today. Maybe I give thanks for strong legs and good eyes. Or for the appearance of spring’s first daffodils. Maybe I give thanks for a good night’s sleep or a warm jacket on a cold morning. “Thank you” rolls out automatically as I consciously seek to see and feel the resources and gifts that I enjoy in my life right now, today.
     Silence the Fretter: The process of giving thanks helps me curb the human impulse for worry and dissatisfaction. My steps find a cadence of appreciation that reverberates in mind and heart.
     Step into Abundance: Instead of ending a walk with mental protests and a sense of panic about all the projects that need to be handled as soon as I finish my exercise, I find myself awash in appreciation. I end my walks with a sense of abundance rather than with the emptiness that comes with focusing on “wants” and “shoulds.”
     Of course, we notice life’s bumps. We cannot help but feel the losses. But just two blocks of gratitude walking can help bring us present and shift the path of life for today.

Walking brings benefits at any speed. A leisurely stroll may be just what you need after a big holiday dinner. You’ll want a faster pace if you hope to catch the bus that’s waiting at your stop.
     Fortunately, walking is a fitness activity that offers a wide range of benefits and paces. Unfortunately, many walkers miss out on benefits we read about in medical research studies. They never step up the standards that call for a “brisk” walking pace. In a 2000 study, researchers surveyed walkers and found that only 26 percent walk at the “moderately intense level” recommended by the US surgeon general.
     
     The 15-minute mile: Walkers should aim for a mile in 15-16 minutes to achieve the benefits described in most studies. At that pace, walking is not an easy stroll. It takes a combination of footwork and mental focus to sustain that momentum for 30 minutes of exercise.

     Speed Bursts: If you’re ready to work at increasing walking speed, start with short speed bursts. Work your way up gradually to a faster pace. Target a one-block distance to walk fast, as if catching a bus. Slow down for a block and then repeat the cycle for a second push.
    
     Arm Yourself: Speed walkers know that one secret to faster footsteps is in speeding up the arms. Bend your arms at your sides and swing them vigorously as you walk. Focus your attention on the arms rather than the legs. As you increase the speed of your arm swing, the legs follow along.

     Get Some Air: Remember to breathe when you speed up. Without fuel, you can’t maintain a brisk pace. If you feel tired, it might be a signal that you need to take a deep breath. Try saying to yourself “In-Out” as you breathe to sustain a regular pattern of deep, full breaths.

     Body and Soul: The benefits of briskness go beyond those that come in terms of health and fitness. When you push yourself to achieve a faster walking pace, the effort requires mental focus. The mental swirl of day-to-day life retreats for a time so that you can experience a moment of being present. That’s a healthy step for body and soul.

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