HEAL YOURSELF WITH WALKING!
My dad was in a horrible car accident years ago. He was hit in the back of the head with a 50 lb. bag of birdseed that was in the backseat and proceeded to have years of agonizing pain with little relief. His MRI was not optimistic. He was a total mess.
Until he discovered walking. That’s right, walking. An activity that most people do throughout the day without much thought. Yet, he completely healed himself by walking on the beach.
In the beginning he couldn’t walk very far without having numbness, tingling, and pain so badly he would have to sit down, no matter where he was, or he would fall down. It was so sad to watch somebody who had been so active have so much pain and suffering. Until he didn’t. His daily walks literally took all that away and to this day he and my stepmother still walk 6 or 7 miles a day. It is their number one priority in the day.
The funny thing is, that when I was a child, they would literally have to drag me out the door to go for a walk. Before they moved to the beach, they loved walking all over their funky neighborhood in Atlanta, Georgia, where I grew up. Me? Not so much. In hindsight, I was probably just being the rebellious kid that I always was and generally resisted anything and everything being presented to me. I don’t remember hating walking, I just hadn’t found my stride yet. That would come much, much later.
When I first began the practice of walking, sacred it was not. Or so I thought. I was caught in yet another cycle of incessantly trying to lose weight. I had tried just about every diet, pill, program, gadget, and “Guaranteed to lose weight or your money back” gimmick there was. Starting an exercise program when you are technically “morbidly obese” is intimidating in and of itself. Other than discovering my love for dancing around the same time, walking was the last thing I ever “tried” to lose weight.
Walking was the secret ingredient I had been looking for and it was right under my nose the whole time! I quickly found it was SO much more than just physical activity. It began to give me confidence I had never known, a sense of accomplishment I didn’t even know was possible, and shortly after beginning my daily walks, motivation came as I saw the pounds begin to drop off. Thank you dad for inspiring me!!
I now know one of the reasons I am here on this earth is to share my journey of walking/hiking and how profoundly it has changed my life. All these years I have been asking for clarity and guidance… and the answer always comes back to keeping my energy moving. The easiest way to do that in my opinion is walking. It is the most natural and easy movement practice for most everyone. I have since learned that with intention, this is the most sacred self-care tool I know and practice. I believe walking can help heal most anything we have going on in our lives…. physically, mentally or emotionally. Oddly enough, it is the simple things that can be the most life-changing.
Do you want to learn how walking/hiking can be a sacred practice in your life? I would love to talk to you about it! Schedule a time to chat here….
