Then, however, there's the likes of me. I would rather sit and read. Or sit and pray. Or lie down and read. Or watch the clouds roll by from a supine position. Okay, and I absolutely love LOVE to swim and be in the water of any sort (except for Lake Ontario's algae-ridden shores this time of year). However, that's not always an option. Neither is this, apparently:
Fortunately, I do like to walk. I like seeing things, places, animals, people at eye level in person, rather than speeding by in a car or through a window. The problem, for me, is that I have some injury-related wonkiness in my left knee, which has a tendency to "go out" if pushed to the limit. Sometimes the limit includes standing at the sink doing the dishes. If I'm dancing, which is one of my favorite all time activities, that knee cannot stand a bit of torque. Ice skating, roller skating - right out.
I'm not telling you all this to induce pity. I am telling you this because I want to share with you something that is changing the way I view exercise...and how I walk.
Two things:
1) I have changed my focus on exercise. Instead of "I gotta exercise so I don't get fat/get sick/feel gross," I have found that moving my body, stretching my muscles and building them up are all very helpful for my spiritual development. That's right! You can think of exercise as being healthy for your spiritual life, if not for your physical life. It's a different spin that somehow takes some of the pressure off. And it helps you pray closer to God. If you don't believe me - do an experiment:
- Pray/meditate/contemplate in whatever way you usually do, sitting or lying down, etc.
- Get up and do something - anything. Go up and down your stairs a couple of times, walk up and down the hallway a few times, stretch, take out the garbage and look at the stars, etc.
- NOW go pray again. Endorphins not only make you feel good, they open your consciousness to receive God's love more easily. This is my experience, not from any book or teaching, per se. But it is also ancient practice in several faith traditions (walking meditation, walking the labyrinth, required physical calisthenics in monasteries, etc.). Keep doing this on a regular basis, and I believe your prayer life will start to come alive.
2) All you gotta do is walk! No gym memberships or painful planking is necessary. If you want to do those things later after you've got some momentum going, great! But all you gotta do is walk.
Now, I have had a love-hate relationship with walking for exercise mainly because I ended up with some part of my body in pain as a result (knee, back, lower back, etc.) You know what I figured out? I have really poor posture, and that only exacerbated my knee issues.
Okay, I lied, one more thing. But before I get into it - let me state clearly that I am not a trained medical professional, physiotherapist, chiropractor, or any kind of such like thing. This is from my own experience and what I have observed in others. Please keep that in mind, and always be gentle with posture correction. See a medical professional if you realize there is something REALLY painful or abnormal going on. Please don't sue me. Thanks.
Steering is what you do when you want to make sure you get to where you want to be, right? And you get where you want to be by making sure you're moving in the right direction, with everything aligned to the same orientation. This is an attention to your body position, and if you have had injuries, even with lots of treatment, it may well be that your body's position isn't aligned in a way that will allow you pain-free walking with the normal benefits of the activity - physical and spiritual.
Over the last few months, I started noticing things about my posture and movement, and began applying that awareness in rotation while standing or walking. Eventually, I came up with this lovely acronym. I recommend doing the first three, S - T - E, in a standing position often. The other two E - R are specific to walking. As you stand/walk, go through each one in rotation. Don't beat yourself up or slam through it - take time to notice, and gently correct.
S -- Straight torso. I have discovered that I twist my torso to the right, resulting in an intense, dull pain under my right shoulder blade. Shoulders and hips should be squared. Bring attention to where you may be feeling tension/pain in your upper body and then gently correct the twist in your spine, if there is one. Be aware that you may be twisted side-to-side or sloping over one hip or the other (X and Y axes).
T -- Tuck pelvis. I also have, as many do, the tendency to stand or walk with butt out, stomach out, shoulders rolled forward, head leaning forward. A LOT of people do this - start noticing others as well as yourself. It's practically an epidemic! Tucking the pelvis will correct a lot of this. It should be a gentle tuck, with the aim of keeping your lower back straight. If you can't walk without leaning back and bending your knees all the time, you're tucking too hard (and you look ridiculous).
E -- Elongate spine. To do this, you will drop your shoulders, lift your chest, raise your chin. Think of yourself being suspended from a thread at the top of your head running through your torso, grounded in the earth. The "hump" that many women start to form at the base of their necks is in part due to rolling the shoulders forward and caving in the chest. You can start doing something about this now!
E -- Even steps. Many of us can favor one leg, foot, or hip, creating an uneven gait with a longer and shorter step. Bring attention to swinging each foot through evenly.
R -- Rotate hips. This is the saucy part! Our hips are made to move in all kinds of delicious ways. That's how God created us! Rotating our hips allow for an even gait and a more relaxed lower back.
Again, I'm not a doctor, and I don't play one on TV, but STEERing while I walk has made a big difference. One of many positive effects has been an automatic repositioning of the arches in my feet. I, as many women do, have pronated ankles that turn inward, and my ankles have sprained several times. Very expensive shoes and orthotics are helpful, but I can feel my muscles working in a different, more natural configuration when I STEER.
And all this comes back to: exercise for your spiritual life. Walk if you can do nothing else, and STEER while you walk. It will take some time to keep the awareness flowing - be easy on yourself and try not to get frustrated if you continually have to correct your pelvic position or straighten your spine. Years of bad habits don't get erased in one afternoon. The same is said of study, prayer, playing a musical instrument, and not doing the dishes after supper. It's all a process.
MAKE THE ROAD BY WALKING:
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