A few months ago, I taught my Core Immersion Training at the Century City Equinox in Los Angeles, Calif. Each day, we valet parked our cars before entering the club. Those who live outside of Los Angeles may have to re-read the prior sentence: Yes, we VALET PARKED our cars to go to the gym, as do thousands of other Angelenos all around the city, where valet parking is an unfortunate fact of life in a city where the car is king, and vast distances separate us from getting here to there.
Walking is the easiest way to maintain an integrated healthy body.
How I miss the days of my childhood in Santa Fe, N.M, where I walked nearly a mile each way to elementary school. And then when we moved into a rural solar community, I walked a mile in the snow just to get to the bus stop for junior high. But I digress …
Let’s revisit the training.
Walking: No. 1 path to health?
On day three of our training, I had Ellen Heed, my favorite anatomy teacher, come in to lecture about the pelvis. She astonished my trainees by telling us that our nomadic ancestors walked dozens of miles daily as they roamed the earth, accumulating thousands of miles a year on their hips and feet. Their roaming ways were a natural suppressant for heart disease, depression, osteoporosis and diabetes, and kept the excess weight off according to the Mayo Clinic. Even Oprah Winfrey endorses it: “I’ve been through every diet under the sun, and I can tell you that getting up, getting out and walking is always the first goal.”
As I waited for my car that evening, my valet, a friendly Ethiopian named Adunde, asked me what I was teaching. After I explained Yoga Tune Up® to him, he said, “That’s so good — exercise, stretching, yoga, movement. It’s so good! Where I grew up in Ethiopia, I had to walk four hours each day to get to school and then four hours back home. I was SO strong! Now, all this,” he grabbed his arms and chest with a frown. “It’s all soft, no energy, it’s all changed!” And with that, he dashed off to retrieve another car.
As I drove home, I calculated that it would probably take me four hours to cover the 12 Los Angeles miles between my home and the gym: up a long steep mountain and then down a canyon into the flats. Adunde might be able to make it in three. In the meantime, my car was guzzling gas, I was immobile in a “bucket seat,” and the necessity of modern living seemed like a cruel joke that was designed to keep us struggling to maintain health and fitness. So I wonder, if we all walked more, could we solve our national health care crisis? It’s the cheapest form of exercise around. Some would argue you don’t even need shoes!
Adopt one walk day a week
I challenge all readers to adopt one walk day a week, where you stroll locally around your neighborhood, walk to your market or your bank, walk the kids to school. So it may take a little longer, but think of the contribution you’ll be making to your health, the low carbon output to the earth, and of course, honoring the journey of your ancestors.
Let me know how it goes! And don’t forget to keep your feet and ankles supple and healthy with the Yoga Tune Up® Quick Fix for Ankles and Feet!
There are many reasons I moved to New York City from my native South Florida over 40 years ago, and one of the major considerations was the city’s car-free walking life-style.
Love having walking built into every day. Makes a huge difference, on almost every level!
Great post!
Great post, so logical and rational and sensible. I consciously try and leave the car and walk or cycle but it’s a hard habit to break………
We learned this from Sarah Court in our yoga tuneup class today. It’s amazing how just walking can make such a difference. I try to get up from my desk throughout the day to stretch my legs. I didn’t realize all of the other benefits I was getting. Thanks!
I am from New York where everyone is use to walking. We categorize it in blocks. A mile is less than 10 city blocks. Now living in Los Angeles, I try to walk as much as I can. Whether it is to the grocery store or to buy dog food which is 5 city blocks away
. I find that on stressful days when I walk my hips can be tighter and shoulders are in a protraction state.
LA is not a walking-friendly city but I try to get a 5-mile loop in weekly. Occasionally the walk leaves me feeling more sore than 5 yoga classes in a week. Sometimes its the simplest exercises that make me realize what parts of my body I still might be missing in my regular routine. I always feel my hip flexors after a long walk.
I am actually trying to encourage my mother-in-law to incorporate simple walking into her daily routine. There truly is no excuse for not getting up and taking a walk outside to enjoy the fresh air (or even inside your local mall in a poorer climate). When I was pregnant, in particular, I was able to notice the benefits of simply getting up to MOVE. We have become such a busy, “to do” list society. I think stopping to do something as simple as walking could not only help to relieve much of our nation’s physical health care issues, but our mental ones as well. Amazing what a nice walk can do for you!
Walking is definitely something that is way too often taken for granted. I always skip escalators and moving walkways!
I know how you feel about living in an area where the car is king. My brothers jokes that, “the shortest distance between two points in Fairfield County…..probably has traffic on it.” I have had countless of commuter clients that spend 3 hours in their car a day! The result is some SERIOUSLY tight muscle, joints, connective tissue and a loss of energy. Most clients tell me they can barely make dinner at the end of the day. We are not built for that. My granfather is 79 years old and starts his day with a 3 mile walk – to and from his post office. He is always bright and energenic, is on no medication, and is quite the charmer with the ladies. The proof is in the pudding so get to steppin!
I am a city person–so walking is very easy for me. Yet, to help make walking more a part of our lives we try to multi-task–like walk to errands, walk to the theater or just walk to a part of the city we are less familiar with to explore. It’s a great way to see and experience your city or others cities.
I recently bought another car after two years without and notice how often I drive to places I walked to for years because it’s easier. This article was a nice reminder to not take the easy way out.
Jill – I love your challenge! I used to be car-less but for the last 9.5 years I have been commuting about an hour each way to work (usually longer on Thursdays and Fridays.) Every once in a while I have to take my car in to be serviced and then I have to take the train to and from work. This is not convenient as the train is 3.8 miles from my home and 1.25 from my office. But on those days, I always have so much more energy. I walk to and from the bus and train, walk between the train and work. And I get to read, relax and enjoy other people. Winter is coming to Chicago, but if I can do it just one day a week, maybe I can build up to two or three days by next summer. I will let you know how it goes.