Take a Walk

I wonder if the ergonomic furniture industry is going to tank now that the people who make these kinds of decisions have figured out it's the sitting, more than the brand of chair one sits in, that's not good for us.

Our bodies were not made to stay in one position; we were meant to move around. Even having "perfect posture" (whatever that means) all the time is not good. One of my great teachers used to say, "Go ahead and stand up straight - just not all the time!" He also said, "Go ahead and slouch - just not all the time!" I say, go ahead and sit down - just not all the time!

One thing our bodies were made to do is walk. Walking is good for everything - physically, spiritually, mentally and emotionally. We are built to walk, we really are. (OK, not all the time.) Think of the eons that passed as we evolved, the hundreds of thousands of years during which we changed structurally in order to stand up. What do we do now? We sit down all the time. It's kind of sad.

We city people walk - with a fury, should say. Power walking is fun, exhilarating and aerobic. To my crazy busy fellow urban citizens, I would like to suggest strolling sometimes. Yeah, just, you know, walking along at a moderate pace. When strolling, it's possible to look at the architecture of the buildings you're passing, sniff the air, watch the sky. I do it every day when I go out to take photos, stroll, I mean. I love power walking, but that's not the only way to get from point A to point B. Stop and smell the roses sometimes, hey?

It makes me laugh when someone suggests that the way to begin walking more often (for those who don't do the city style power walk) is to park your car at the outer edge of a parking lot. Reality check: a walk through a parking lot is no fun at all! There are folks out there who never walk - if the only time they do is while navigating a shopping mall parking lot, they will never be inspired to take a walk in a park, through a public garden, around a lake or through the neighborhood. They will associate walking with exhaust fumes, honking and people jostling for parking spots. For heaven's sake, that isn't a walk!

If you've been in the same position for awhile, reading blogs, why not take a minute now to breathe, relax your jaw, stretch, look around, hey? That's exactly what I'm going to do.

Shalom.