It is not for nothing that spiritual masters, yogacharyas, ayurvedacharyas and fitness experts tell you to go take a walk as a cure for almost anything and everything. It whittles down your fat, puts you in a happier frame of mind if you are upset; for sure, the blackest of all moods disappear as the cool breeze caresses your face as you walk.
Neural activity is heightened and brainwaves might suddenly occur while you move your limbs and eureka! you might even come up with answers to the most unsolvable riddles of your life. A walk among nature always rejuvenates and peps you up. It fills you with endorphins, those feel-good hormones that make your day go better.
It is also a completely natural activity that matches, movement for movement, an activity that our ancestors did millennia ago. Of course they did it without fancy air shoes and minus the swagger or waddle that some of us are now wont to adopt, for the simple reason that whatever the mood you might find yourself in, walking limbers you up to face your day. It pushes your circulation up, and ensures that every pore and cell of your being is oxygenated with natural prana flowing into your millions of nadis and veins.
Spiritual masters talk about nature and about the need to go walking amidst it. Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hnah takes walking one step further and prescribes Mindful Walking to his disciples. Some people chant as they walk, chanting the syllable of a mantra at every step, coordinating it with breathing in and out.
Walking is nature’s superlative gift to us, besides being the best-ever aerobic activity known in nature. It uses up all your 600-plus major muscle groups, and you could burn anything from 6 to 8 calories per minute, depending on your weight, size and pace of walking.
Walking allows you to take in deep breaths naturally, and needs nothing besides early morning or evening pleasant weather that turn the simplest of all walks into a rejuvenating and health-giving free gift from nature. It increases bone density too, and is known to be the most effective flab-fighting activity that exists. There is no age limit to walking. A baby of one year learns to walk and almost everyone walks till the last days of their lives.
You have to try walking on fresh green grass early mornings and then sit down in a park on a bench beneath a tree soaking in health-giving prana from the trees and leaves just a few times. You will soon be hooked.
Healthcare workers prescribe it as routinely as they do their medicines, knowing that this one ingredient has better chances of setting you back on the road to good health, than all the medicines they have scribbled for you on prescription sheets.
The irony is that half those ailments wouldn’t have made an appearance in your body if you had done your share of daily walking as the Creator had meant it to be. That’s how important walking is. The divine gave you this gift so that you could commune with beautiful nature and breathe in the divinity that surrounds you.
Reena Singh has more than 37 years’ experience in senior editorial positions in The Times of India (TOI) and Genpact. She was Deputy Editor with TOI’s spiritual newspaper, The Speaking Tree, where she spent nine years.
Walking is a nourishing habit that supports one in many ways. You have nicely elaborated the gifts of walking.
From my childhood I was associated with Lord Krishna. So aquainted with krishna chants and bhajanas.
In the later years of my youth i was involved with a tradition, that descendents of Lord Siva. The mantra was Om Namah Shivaya.
It was so difficult for me to chant the gorgeous mantra, that I use to stay back in chanting, in satsang.
Then I started chanting the mantra in my morning walk, non stop. Wothin weeks, not only I could go deep into the mantra, but too felt how the power of Mantra refined my style of walking, brought mindfulness in my thinking and also inspired me to look within.
Walking helps one in many ways.
Thank you mam for encouraging us to start walking.
Manas Das Jee, thank you so much for sharing your experiences in walking. It is very enlightening.
Thank you for your encouragement and support to our website.
Beautifully expressed. The Hare Krishna mantra is so powerful as is Om Namah Shivaya.
And walking, itself, in the early mornings is a divine experience. It gives a healthy start to your day.
I love my early morning walks. The moment cool breeze hits your cheek, you feel refreshed and ready for the day. In fact my heart skips a beat poem came with what I saw during my morning walks in chennai.
So many of my blogs in ST were written observing my surroundings while walking. Later once I took to mantra chanting, my observation of surrounding stopped but I was able to concentrate on my thoughts more. Still moon and stars fascinate me while waking, if I happen to look at the sky 🙂
Walking is invigorating. It puts one at peace and that feel-good factor is something one carries through the day. The best part is that at night, one is blessed with blissful, deep sleep.
Early in the morning when everything around wakes up refined, refreshed and rejuvenated, an altogether different vibe vibrates in the air…
Walking through it, breathing through it is indeed an awesome experience to begin a day. The primary communication with everything around when becomes complete early in the morning, it sets a beautiful equation for the entire day, which is so very fair!
Thanks for such an inspiring post Reena Ji.
Early mornings are really God’s gifts to man. The soothing green grass in a park and the breeze gently blowing through the trees is really uplifting.
Walking certainly helps me cope with my bereavement. When my husband if 55 years my world came crashing down. I seriously just wanted to lie down and die. To top it all. This pandemic was keeping everyone locked up in their homes so the human touch was also not there. Then I started walking alone(stressful at first as I had never walked alone before) but I included my dearly departed husband and just kept walking and talking to him and I felt no longer alone I started going down all our favourite trails. Sat on the benches Under the trees we sat on and felt at peace. Now whenever I feel blue. I just take his walker and walk through this world with him. Reading your script gave me validation. Sometimes I felt as if I was crazy talking and walking with my husband but it truely is my medicine
Thank you reena and thank you Rimy for forwarding
Ramona kapur
Dear Ramona, walking is therapeutic and when you walk outdoors it establishes a connection with nature. Nature is a great healer, and absorbs your thoughts and feelings. It provides solace. You instantly knew the right thing to do in the situation you were in. Thanks for sharing and God bless you.
Dear Reena, thank you for your inspiration! You write so descriptively I actually felt that early morning breeze, heard the birds singing, and felt rejuvenated despite being home bound due to wildfire smoke. Walks have gotten me through the pandemic, allowing me to experience my neighborhood in beautiful new ways. They are like meditation because no matter the pandemic, birds still build their nests, flowers bloom, and life feels all brand new each morning on a rejuvenating walk. Plus, walks feel like a complete renewal each new day. Thanks for uplifting me with your vivid storytelling. A beautiful read. Much love:)))