Although I recommend multiple forms of exercise, I have found a good walk cannot be substituted. I currently walk, everyday if possible, one to two miles. Sometimes, that number decreases or increases, depending on what is going on in my life that day. The consistency of the act is what brings the Joy & Health into my life. If I walk every day, I get a chance to reap the benefits of that walk every day. Every. Single. Day.
I used to think of walking for exercise as such low-impact, that I did not include it into anything I even remotely thought of as a ‘workout’. Now, as I become more aware of my own semblance of Joy & Health, I realize that the benefits of a walk are not in the pulse-quickening, lung-heaving, muscle tightening of other exercises. They are in the calm. The observations. The relaxed breathing as you develop your rhythm. The benefits are not only in the body, but in the mind.
I walk with loved ones, and I hope to walk with friends as well soon. Go ahead and add camaraderie, communication, and connection to the benefit list. I walk with pets. Well, that feels good! That’s connection with animals. Checking that benefit box. I walk with Nature. Ah ha! And now you get a chance to see the meat and potatoes of this post.
I walk with nature. The trees around me, in the distance, and overhead, depending on where I walk. The plants at my feet, and to my left and right. Ahead and behind. If it is a breezy or windy day, I feel it push me forward and/or push me back. Raining? I get to hear the drops as they smash down upon the sand, gravel, dirt, and stone. Am I walking near a river today? The rush of the water, as it makes its long, persistent march to the sea. . The sea? The waves, pulsing, pounding, pulling. My rhythm and pace on the beach is very different than my pace in the forest, all due to that ever-present sound of the waves. In and out. In and out.
Today, I was picking up a muddy, chewed stick, getting ready to throw it forward for the pupper doggoe to chase after, pick up, chew on a little bit, then drop down three to four steps in front of me for me to start the whole adventure again. I noticed at my feet a herb that I immediately recognized. Plantain. I see plantain everywhere; here, in the mountains and down in the city. As I tossed the stick for my pet’s next retrieval adventure, I remembered the last time I had really thought about plantain. It was quite a few winters ago, and I was using a very sharp hatchet to split kindling just inside the door to my woodshed. My partner was just leaving the house out the back door, coming out my way. I looked up to her from the what I was doing, and, with a bit of a panic, said, “Honey, I just cut the tip of my thumb off!”
Blood began to poor all over the chopping block and then downwards towards the ground. The wood smell in my nostrils now had to compete with iron, as I grabbed my thumb and tried to apply pressure. She ran up, then spun around, looking towards the ground. She bent down and ripped something out of the earth not four feet from the doorway to the woodshed. She tossed it into her mouth without even a second thought, and began chewing, meticulously and fervently. She spat a bit out between her finger and thumb of her right hand and said, “show it to me.” Having an idea what she was up to, I let her mash, gently, the green pulp onto the wound, which I now realized, was not quite as deep as I had though. yes, a small chunk of my thumb as not there anymore, but, to my surprise, within half a minute no new blood was pouring out of the wound. I was able to assess the damage without the fear of blood loss. She had just used plantain as a blood clotting agent on my wound.
Plants are not only wonderful at promoting well being just being near them, as on a walk, but they are highly medicinal as well. There are so many herbs and bushes and trees with healing properties, some of which are right underfoot, just across the road, or even in your very own backyard! Did you know there is a superfood tree that has been quietly making its way into many American backyards? If you can spot this peaceful invader it’ll provide you with food (all parts are edible), water (it can purify it), more protein and calcium than milk, four times the iron of spinach and… a LOT more! I planted one in my backyard two years ago and was absolutely blown away by how fast it grew – over 4′ feet in just 2 months. Best of all, this tree already grows in many American backyards, so see if it grows in your own backyard as well!
All said and done, taking a walk is one of the easiest exercises to add to your day. It promotes well-being, gives you a chance to connect with others, as well as a chance to connect with nature. I believe this is the second, integral step, to building and living a life of Joy & Health.
Joy & Health 