I am barely involved in any kind of sport activities. I do have 2 bikes, but rarely use them, I don´t go to zumba classes and I am restless enough to realize that yoga is not a fit for me. I used to practice Judo and martial arts long ago but only because my mother and brother insisted. I cannot swim. I tried to play tennis one long summer but more than one trainer acknowledged my mother that I am completely unfit for such a sport. I find jogging boring and although I love competitions, I have no intention to prepare for any marathon. My life is fast forward enough to cut any enthusiasm for a self-imposed running diet.
But there is some physical activity which I always enjoyed: walking with its mountain-related activity of hiking. As a child I used to walk as often as possible and while living in Switzerland I crossed hills and mountains almost on my own during the long summer retreats in the countryside. I kept hiking and even learned how to defend myself in case a bear - or two - may want to visit my tent.
I love the city life, with its cultural attractions and the sight of houses, but every week, no matter how cold or hot or rainy, I put aside one hour of my life for hiking. In addition to the usual at least 10,000 steps the day spent walking. There, in the middle of the nature, I can leave my busy self, abandon my phone and social media attractions of all kinds, even refuse to read for at least one hour. Instead, I offer myself the pleasure of walking out of time, observe nature, recollect my thoughts, breath deep and abandon any negative thoughts or anger. For me, those steps are meditation and prayer and medicine. It makes me physically tired which is my guarantee for a good night sleep. I can survive my sleep deprivation one full week, with my mind always busy to learn or to think about something or sometimes someone. But once the week, I need that every muscle of my body are screaming hard for a 10-hour rest. No valium can do better.
As for walking, this is my one and only way to connect with a city. Newly landed in a new place, this is through walking that I discover my environment, I observe the houses and the people, their way of walking and how they talk with each other.
In Praise of Walking by Shane O´Mara confirms that I am doing - finally - something good for my health. Forget all the heavy smoking days and inadequate eating - to call it right, eating disorders - and lack of sleep and stress. Walking bring the right balance into my life. It build the bridge between body and mind, it creates meaning and can even help creativity and productivity. And this is scientifically proved.
In addition to acquiring healthy habits and improving my eating routines in the last decade of life in Germany, walking helped me to overcome my high level of activity and brought a bit of balance into my everyday chaos.
The healthy benefits of walking, as outlined in the book, may not be always direct, but it influences the brain plasticity and the immunity, among others. It creates that resilience that one needs when you have to overcome difficult personal moments. In addition to therapy and medical support, it relieves at least part of the heavy burden of depression and anxiety too.
And this is how walking saved my life recently. A couple of months ago, chronically sick and stuck to a hospital bed with unclear chances of surviving, I was able to come back to life and to a decent human look in just a couple of weeks - less than two months - also due to the mental muscles created during my walking sprees. I wanted so much to be back in the woods, to see the lakes and to hear the birds again, that only thinking about it for a couple of minutes was enough to take me out of my hospital bed, with the help of the medical personnel and, surprinsingly fast, on my own. Since last March, I am happily back to my active lifestyle, and I can again do my weekly walking routine.
Despite the considerable amount of scientific data, used to prove various benefits of walking, In Praise of Walking is not a complicated high-end academic read and I personally expected more than repeating the same conclusion - walking is good - in different contexts. But I want to give praise when it´s due and, indeed, walking is good. At least in my case, it saved my life.
Rating: 3 stars
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