The
Power of Walking
By Paul Chek, HHP, NMT
Today, most civilized
countries face the highest incidence of obesity, disease and orthopedic
injury in almost every conceivable category on record. These types
of health issues persist despite our vast quantity of medical
technology and the presence of more doctors and health care professionals
than ever in history. Given our resources and current state of
health, one must surmise ... if there is anything we can do for
ourselves, we best get moving!
There are a few factors
that can be correlated to our declining health, such as:
- A tremendous increase
in the consumption of medical drugs; an astonishing percentage
of Americans are on at least one prescription drug. In 2000,
3 billion drug prescriptions were filled by pharmacies (1).
In Dr. Mercola's words, " ... that's enough drugs for every
man, woman and child to have a new prescription each month of
the year!"(2)
- Increased consumption
of caffeinated and sugar-laden beverages in place of water
- A massive decline
in food quality secondary to depletion of soils and use of industrial
farming technology as well as a huge increase in the quantity
of processed foods.
- Lack of exercise!
While I have a lot
to say regarding all these points, and many more, it is this last
point I would like to address herein.
While many of you could,
and probably do, have reasons why you don't participate in a regular,
structured exercise program, none of you can honestly say that
you don't have time to walk! The human body is not only designed
for daily movement, it is essential for optimal physiological
function--which contributes to health and well-being. To demonstrate
my point, consider the following benefits of simply walking.
Metabolism
Walking is one of
the most primal movement patterns known to man. Because bipedal
walking became essential to our survival as we progressed through
the paleo-mammalian phase of human development into the neo-mammalian
phase (fully upright), our bodies have developed in such a way
that walking and movement are essential to health; as they say,
form follows function.
Walking requires the
integrated use of our arms, legs and torso. Hundreds of calorie-burning
muscles are utilized by walking. Walking briskly on a daily basis
not only results in the burning of calories, it increases enzyme
activity and other metabolic activity. Eherenfried Pfeiffer, famous
nutritionist, biochemist and understudy of Rudolph Steiner, suggests
that walking as little as two miles may result in increased calorie
consumption for up to 12 hours post movement (3); from clinical
experience, I can assure you that the more deconditioned you are,
the greater the metabolic effect of walking.
Increased metabolism
doesn't only mean using more calories, it means your body is more
likely to draw in nutrients from your foods and supplements. This
is because of the supportive effects walking has on peristalsis
(see below) as well as the overall stimulation of metabolism,
assimilation and elimination. It also means your desire to drink
more water will increase, supporting all your bodily systems of
detoxification and elimination, as well as improving digestion.
Circulation
of Vital Fluids
Walking results in
rhythmic contraction and relaxation of muscles as well as rhythmic
pressure changes in body cavities. This results in improved circulation
of blood, lymph and even synovial fluid (the lubricating fluid
made in joints). Because much of your immune system travels through
your body via the blood and lymphatic fluids, improving your circulation
through daily walking can improve immune function, as well as
your metabolism and health in general.
Cerebral spinal fluid
is the special fluid that bathes and nourishes your nervous system.
Unlike blood, which is assisted in its movement through the body
by the heart, cerebrospinal fluid movement is dependent upon a
number of pressure-wave influences that range from expansion and
contraction of cranial sutures and pressure on the brain tissue,
first by systolic pressure and then by diastolic pressure. Another
factor assisting the flow of this vital fluid is breathing; inhalation
lengthens the spine assisting cerebrospinal fluid flow back into
the brain while exhalation achieves the opposite (4).
Steady state rhythmic
walking further assists movement of body fluids. Steady state
walking, or walking at a consistent effort, synchronizes breathing
with movement, again causing wavelike pulsations throughout body
cavities. You will notice that during relaxed walking, the number
of steps per inhalation/exhalation cycle will self-regulate or
synchronize. When you're walking and breathing synchronizes directly,
or in an octave relationship with other fluid pressures and pulsations,
movement of all major body fluids, including cerebrospinal fluid,
is assisted. In a future article on the major pump systems of
the body, we will explore the relationships between fluid movement,
pumps and physical-emotional-mental and spiritual health.
Mobilization
of Internal Organs
The rhythmic pressure
changes produced by walking, which I've described above, also
mobilize and massage your internal organs. This occurs as your
diaphragm contracts rhythmically with the abdominal muscles to
aid respiration, as well as stabilization of the body, the result
of which is a massage for your internal organs. The movement,
pressure changes and improved fluid transfer keep the internal
organs mobile and healthy, improving their physiological functions
individually and synergistically.
A typical example of
a common internal organ dysfunction that often responds well to
walking, hiking, or even climbing stairs is constipation. When
people become sedentary, they lose the natural visceral mobilization
provided by functional exercise. Couple this loss of needed activity
with the dietary habits of modern man and you have constipation
and a host of other reasons for the body to perform poorly!
In fact, today, it
is common for people to report to hospital emergency rooms with
terrible back and sciatic pain, only to be told that they are
constipated and given a laxative, which frequently alleviates
the back or sciatic pain. Consider that in the United States,
laxatives are the third best-selling drugstore item, and most
of the laxative customers would look and feel much better by merely
walking as little as two miles a day and drinking daily an ounce
of water for each two pounds of their body weight!
The P-M-E-S
Connection
The human being is
a unique organism in that we are physical (P)-mental (M)-emotional
(E)-spiritual (S) beings. With only a little self-observation,
you will quickly realize that any time your physical being is
sluggish or functioning sub-optimally, your mental-emotional-spiritual
well-being also suffers. Most of you would be surprised at the
improved mental clarity and the emotional and spiritual well-being
that results from walking a couple miles a day.
I frequently prescribe
meditative walking for stressed business executives, a practice
I learned from Master Fong Ha (5). With meditative walking, you
need only set a comfortable pace and work to maintain a rhythmic
relationship between the number of steps taken for each breathing
cycle (one inhalation and one exhalation); for example, breath
in for four steps, natural pause for one step and breath out for
four steps. Keep this steady cycle and soon you will find that
not only do your internal systems synchronize, your mind quickly
empties.
If you find your mind
jumping around, concentrate on breathing diaphragmatically, emphasizing
inhalation through the nose. It is also beneficial to the breathing
process to keep the tongue in the physiological rest position
on the roof of the mouth, just behind the front teeth; it naturally
goes there if you swallow or initiate the pronunciation of the
letter 'L'.
Not
only does keeping the tongue in its physiological rest position
assist in deeper breathing by facilitating diaphragmatic breathing
(6), the tongue is the energetic link between two of the primary
energy meridians of the body (7). The microcosmic orbit is composed
of two primary meridians, the Governing in the rear of the body
and the Conception in the front of the body (Figure 1.). With
inhalation, Chi, or life-force energy, rises from the anus, along
the spine and over the head to the end of the Governing vessel
at the point in the upper palate where the tongue naturally rests.
On exhalation, the
Chi energy flows down through the tongue, neck and linea alba
(central line between your abdominal muscles) to the anus. As
you relax into your walking meditation, it is important to keep
the tongue relaxed or circulation through the microcosmic orbit
becomes diminished. With relaxation and practice, you will begin
feeling the Chi flowing through the microcosmic orbit; most people
can feel Chi flowing in the microcosmic orbit after one gong,
which is 100 consecutive days of practice. I feel the minimum
commitment should be 40 breath cycles, which is minimal considering
you will breathe about 25,900 times a day anyway!
Time to Get
Walking!
Now that you know
walking can aid in improving your metabolism, body shape, energy
levels, mental clarity, and most aspects of your well-being, it
is time to stop driving around the parking lot at the shopping
center for 10 minutes waiting for a spot to open up by the door!
It is also time to stop riding elevators all the time, particularly
since most of us need a lot more exercise! If you could use a
little more vitality in your life, climbing a few stairs whenever
possible will be a big step (literally) in the right direction.
Whenever you can get
out into nature and walk or hike, you will always attain increased
benefit. Uneven terrain stimulates the use of many different movement
patterns, further assisting in massaging the organs, pressure
changes and improved circulation. You also get a much-needed chance
to breath fresh air and share your energy with Mother Nature's
life forms. Put all this together and you should be able to easily
sell yourself on the idea of going for a walk, one of the easiest
ways in the world to reap benefits for your Physical-Mental-Emotional-Spiritual
well-being!
Paul Chek is a Holistic
Health Practitioner (Ca.) and Certified Neuromuscular Therapist.
He is founder of the C.H.E.K Institute in Vista, Ca. If you enjoyed
this article, you will love the greater scope of information available
to you in his new book "How To Eat, Move and Be Healthy!"
For more information on Paul Chek's books, videos, audios, correspondence
courses and articles, visit his Web page at www.chekinstitute.com
or call 1-800-552-8789 (U.S.) (1-760-477-2620 International) for
a free catalog.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
References:
Dr. Mercola's Web site:
http://www.mercola.com/2002/apr/13/pharmaceutical_spending.htm
Personal Communication
with Dr. Mercola. July, 2003
"Ehrenfried Pfieffer
Himself" Audio Cassette Series
www.acresusa.com
Johathan M.P. Howat,
D.C., D.I.C.S., F.I.C.S., F.C.C.
"Chiropractic--Anatomy and Physiology of Sacro Occipital
Technique"
Cranial Communication Systems, Oxford, UK 1999. p. 19
Personal Communication
with Master Fong Ha
Integral Chuan Institute in Berkeley, California
www.fongha.com
David A. Zhon, M.D.
"Musculoskeletal Pain--Diagnosis and Physical Treatment,
2nd Ed." (p.187)
Little Brown and Co. Boston/Toronto, 1988
Paul Brecher
Secrets of Energy Work (p. 114)
Dorling Kindersley, UK.
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