I used to walk and walk and walk. My dad walked to work, 1.5 miles each way, for years and years (and when he developed plantar fasciitis and stopped walking, within a year he was having a triple bypass. Just sayin). We walked uptown or to the mall to run errands, and we took walks just to walk, too. And then, stuff interfered, including two busted ankles, and my walking days, though not over, became few and far between, because walking hurt.
And then my Achilles tendon decided to have a massive freakout.
Oh, but we all know how the Universe really works, don’t we? Something breaks so you can figure out what’s wrong and take steps to fix it. Pun totally intended and I am not sorry. It has taken a foot doc, a physical therapist, a massage therapist, a hypno-trance therapist and an energy healer to get there, but humans, I am getting my legs back. And I have learned so much.
But what I am going to talk about here, is walking. Do it. Three miles a day. Humans, according to Katy Bowman in Move Your DNA, were designed to walk a minimum of three miles a day – and because of our ultra-nomadic evolution, every system in our bodies is regulated by walking.
- Blood pressure, because walking helps your heart pump the blood back from your legs and feet much easier.
- Blood filtering through the kidneys, because your heart beats faster and you breath more, so your kidneys filter your blood more efficiently when you walk more.
- Lungs, because walking increases your lung capacity and your oxygen levels.
- Digestion, because the rocking motion of the legs moving helps line up your pelvis and massage your intestines and your colon, helping you digest and absorb critical nutrients, as well as helping you eliminate waste efficiently and easily.
- Your sexual organs, because they all live in the same area getting that lovely massage from the rocking motion of the walking.
- Your brain health, because your oxygen absorption is higher, so more clarity, focus and creativity. And every artist knows you get some of the best ideas when you are out walking.
I could go on and on. Three miles a day is like the minimum daily requirement of a particular vitamin or mineral. Three miles is the baseline.
But somedays, walk five, or seven miles. Somedays walk your three miles all at once, and some days, walk a mile in the morning and two miles in the evening. Or take micro-walks through the day, half a mile here, a mile there, and so on. The ultimate point is to move more. To get up off the chair and move your butt. Speaking of butts, the more you engage your glutes when walking, the less frog-butt will be the bane of your body. You engage your glutes by keeping your pelvis in a neutral position, not shoved back or tilted forward. Keep your ribcage neutral, too, and relax. Swing your arms naturally instead of trying to use the time to work with weights. Just walk, for walk’s sake.
Three miles is about an hour for most of us. Twenty minutes a mile is pretty average. Is your physical, emotional, mental and spiritual health worth an hour a day? Mine is.
Walk with me.