Walking; the most under-rated exercise.

 

 I was fortunate to grow up in a small town where we walked: to friends, to the park to play, ice skate, for concerts or picnics on the grass.  I also walked several blocks to school, a good thing for many reasons, such as; focusing the eyes on sights at various distances, (great for vestibular functioning & eyesight) enjoying nature, trees, the sky,  fresh air, and using systems of muscular integration to propel the body forward and remain balanced.

Humans were meant to walk. Walking is one way our body resets it's natural alignment.  It is weight bearing exercise, and it calms the mind. Walking is natural movement that involves moving all of your muscles and tissue, increasing metabolism, lubricating the joints, increasing blood flow and oxygen to all the cells of the body, nourishing our physical being. It energizes the body, as well as relaxes the mind: walking can even be a meditation.  Walking can also be calming for the emotions, through appreciating beauty, nature, fresh air, sunshine, rain, seeing the people of your neighborhood; all this can lift your spirits.

Even if you are very “active” if you are not walking regularly, you may not be resetting the body in an important natural way.  

In the past, (and for many people of the world, still today), our bodies were the primary tool of sustenance and survival, we used them with care and awareness.  Sedentary wasn’t an option.  Now, the many conveniences of modern life: cars, furniture, sit-toilets, TV, computers, cell phones, are not helping our health, in fact, they are making people less mobile, less flexible, less connected and less aware.  

It is a challenge to maintain healthy, activity habits in modern western culture. Creating time and following through with exercise, may mean letting some things go, in order to make time to nurture personal health and peace of mind.  Notice how your thoughts, self-talk, beliefs, activity and lifestyle affect starting and continuing your walking regularly. Notice who are your allies for healthy Living. Having work-out/walking buddies/partners increases success; who could be your buddy?   

Most of the people on the planet would be astounded to observe how very little walking a modern person, in many cities in the USA does.  The bits of walking are mostly to and from a car.   In a time and society where poor diets, excess weight, obesity and sedentary lifestyle are creating disease.

 More than once recently I listened to conversations between young people (early-mid 20’s) talking about shockingly numerous ailments, medications ,and procedures, which hadn't brought relief.  More than one said "I wish I was in shape to exercise".  I wondered if they knew a walking program was a possibility.

 I work with older people (70’s up to 102 years old) some who don’t spend any time talking about ailments and medicine; because they are busy living the life they have left and most of them don't have as many "ailments" as these young people!  These elder people have a sense of purpose and commitment to life which is strong: a contributing factor to a healthier life and aging process.

It is with-in your power to change this whole paradigm of sedentary lifestyle for yourself. Starting with a good daily walk, 30-45 minutes; it is sound, healthy, preventative medicine.  It is that simple. (I didn’t say easy- breaking habits, starting new habits isn’t easy) Yet, who knows, after this is a habit, you might find yourself doing yoga, maybe even dance, or taking a long hike, running a marathon, doing a triathlon, but for now, keep it simple.                   Namaste, Christina

  

LEARNING

I was recently interviewed by Hakim Belamy for a blog about learning and want to share it with you.  direct link to blog I-remember-this!  or read it here-

I remember this! 

Christina Bouajila is a former K-5 art teacher who struggled with a learning disorder in grade school. Fortunately, her 6th grade year saw the efforts of a vigilant teacher and a determined mother converge as Christina was enrolled in a graduate student led program at Southern Methodist University. There, Christina saw her reading level rocket from a third grade reading level to a post 9th grade reading level as she was about to enter her freshman year of high school. She credits that leap to the passion of those young grad students and the attention she received in an environment where there was one teacher dedicated to the progress of two or three assigned students. However, later in life Christina learned a different kind of “reading”. She learned how to read and listen to her body.I loved teaching, but what I experienced was one of the failings of our education system. I had 950 students in a very large elementary school, dealing with a different classroom and different classes every 45 minutes. I was passionate about it and I loved it. I put a lot of energy into it, but it became like riding a roller coaster, you can only ride it so many times in a day. So I burnt out. It was at a time when the economy was crashing, so I was losing my house. And something started happening at the time where I wasn’t coping with stress. There always seemed to be an endless stream of thoughts, worries about the future and analyzing the past. Very little time was being spent in the present. I also happened to be getting carbon monoxide poisoning from a car that I knew had an exhaust leak, but I thought with the windows rolled down I was protected. Things got so bad that I thought, at the young age of 49, that I was developing early onset dementia. It was frightening, I would be driving places I had been numerous times and get lost. It was really frightening for myself and my pre-teen daughter. I was so afraid and aware that I was losing the ability to have power over my own mind.

So I started looking to solve my lifestyle. Deal with living in relative poverty, part-time work and not wanting to go back to education for a while, so I started going to a community yoga class that was affordable twice a week. And all of the sudden i was like, “I remember this.” I had studied dance and I had always been very active. Before going into teaching and right after college I taught fitness for many years, as well as guided relaxation at the end of intense workout classes for people. And here I was going to this class and all of the sudden I felt peace. I remembered it, and I thought “I know how create this. I know how to do this”.

I kept going to the class for about three or four months. Then, the instructor mentioned that she was going to be moving and that she was having trouble finding someone to take over the class. I’d taught it before and was beginning to practice it more while I was not at class, so I said “You know, I think I could be ready in a month, and I’d be willing to take over the class.” However, I knew in order to take over the class I had to live the example. So I began daily meditations and daily yoga, and it saved my life.

I found my way back to being relaxed, and I mean really relaxed. Not the kind of relaxed you get when you plop down in front of a TV. I was able to be deeply relaxed and calm my mind enough to just be in the present. Now, it’s been over four years of daily practice that brings me back to that place of peace.

Christina Bouajila is a yoga instructor, meditation coach, visual and performance artist. The proud mother of a fine young scholar, Christina also organizes flash mob style, synchronized meditation events called "Med Mob". Find Christina and her yoga practice at HappyMountainYoga.com.