Walkers in the park

Walkers in the park

Enjoying conversation

Getting exercise

More on walking meditation

Nourishing steps

Walking meditation is like eating.  With each step, we nourish our body and our spirit. When we walk with anxiety and sorrow, it is a kind of junk food. The food of walking meditation should be of a higher quality. Just walk slowly and enjoy a banquet of peace.

The long road turns to Joy, Tich Nhat Hanh

More walking quotes

“I am alarmed when it happens that I have walked a mile into the woods bodily, without getting there in spirit.” -- Henry David Thoreau

“After a day's walk everything has twice its usual value.” -- George Macauley Trevelyan

“I would walk along the quais when I had finished work or when I was trying to think something out. It was easier to think if I was walking and doing something or seeing people doing something that they understood.” -- Ernest Hemingway

“I find more pleasure in wandering the fields than in musing among my silent neighbours who are insensible to everything but toiling and talking of it and that to no purpose.” -- John Clare

“We ought to take outdoor walks, to refresh and raise our spirits by deep breathing in the open air.” -- Seneca

“I always feel so sorry for women who don't like to walk; they miss so much -- so many rare little glimpses of life; and we women learn so little of life on the whole.” --Kate Chopin

“Thinking is generally thought of as doing nothing in a production-oriented culture, and doing nothing is hard to do. It's best done by disguising it as doing something, and the something closest to doing nothing is walking.” -- Rebecca Solnit

“Above all, do not lose your desire to walk: every day I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from every illness; I have walked myself into my best thoughts and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it.” --Søren Kierkegaard

“Perhaps the truth depends on a walk around a lake.” -- Wallace Stevens

“Walks. The body advances, while the mind flutters around it like a bird.” -- Jules Renard

"[Walking] is the perfect way of moving if you want to see into the life of things. It is the one way of freedom. If you go to a place on anything but your own feet you are taken there too fast, and miss a thousand delicate joys that were waiting for you by the wayside.” -- Elizabeth von Arnim

Walking Quotes

"I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in." -- John Muir

“Now shall I walk or shall I ride?
'Ride,' Pleasure said;

'Walk,' Joy replied.” -- W.H. Davies

“To walk is to lack a place. It is the indefinite process of being absent and in search of a proper.” -- Michel de Certeau

"If I couldn't walk fast and far, I should just explode and perish." -- Charles Dickens

“Only thoughts won by walking are valuable.” -- Friedrich Nietzsche

"Walking and talking are two very great pleasures, but it is a mistake to combine them. Our own noise blots out the sounds and silences of the outdoor world; and talking leads almost inevitably to smoking, and then farewell to nature as far as one of our senses is concerned. The only friend to walk with is one... who so exactly shares your taste for each mood of the countryside that a glance, a halt, or at most a nudge, is enough to assure us that the pleasure is shared.” --C.S. Lewis

The power of walking!

"It is solved by walking."  

-St. Augustine

I've discovered that some of my most creative thinking occurs when I'm going for a walk or a run. It can also be beneficial to "buddy up" and visit with a friend in order to gather even more insights and discussion.

Walking meetings

A Ted Talk speaker, Nilofer Merchant, noted the benefits of taking walking meetings.  In addition to exercise she also notes it is beneficial for "out of the box" thinking.  It is also helpful to reframe problems that might otherwise be held in opposition. Makes a lot of sense doesn't it?

You can view her short presentation, Got a meeting? Take a walk.

Beauty on a walk to the store

Despite a cold driving rain yesterday I decided to walk to the grocery store  to pick up an ingredient that I needed for making supper.  When I was checking out the cashier said I looked as if I had been rafting.

It actually was a pretty and refreshing mile hike.  I wore a raincoat over my light winter jacket to stay fairly dry and warm.

Brought the camera along in a carrier bag to snap a few shots in route.  

Spring is in no hurry to arrive this year!

Reflections from Bassett Creek

Reflections from Bassett Creek

Walking home from church this past Sunday I paused briefly on a bridge which passes over Bassett Creek.  The fall colors were shimmering beautifully, reflecting the trees that lined the banks.  Another wonderful, unexpected, but welcome, benefit of walking to and from church.

The power of walking

Recently I was visiting with a fellow walker about the tremendous return on investment (ROI) that one gets from walking.  It takes very little other than some of our time, a good pair of shoes and comfortable clothing to enjoy the many benefits of walking.

According to researchers, just 30 minutes of regular brisk walking - about the pace if you are trying to reach a bus before it pulls away - can help lower your cholesterol, risk of stroke and some cancers, and it can improve your cognitive function and blood pressure.  How's that for a great ROI?

An article in USA Weekend, "The power of walking", speaks to the growing trend in walking among Americans; 145 million and counting.  Unfortunately, there are still too many people think they need to buy a fancy sweatsuit and gym membership to get some exercise, when all they really need to do is lace up their shoes and head out the door for a walk.