But David, I know how to walk … duh! So did I. But what I did not know was how to walk efficiently and without stress, strain and impact on the body. Most of which can be a subtle effect you might not notice, but it is there. And subtle is additive and the effects can sneak up on us.
In a previous post, my JFK 50 Mile Ultra experience included a number of walking intervals. I walked for a number of reasons:
- To be as efficient as possible on an uphill, in particular early on in the event. In many cases the terrain was steep and technical enough that you could probably walk or run about the same speed.
- To reduce impact as much as possible on a downhill, in particular the very technical (read ‘rocky, unstable’) Appalachian Trail (AT) and its switchbacks on the descent.
- Once I got off the AT, and realized how much tension had accumulated in my body. I used walking to reset on my technique, to reduce effort and to let my body and my mind relax. From there I repeated a run/walk to come back to these benefits at regular intervals.
Walking Your Way to Better Running Technique
More importantly, walking helped me get to the starting line of a 50 mile event. Yes, yes we did walk about a half mile from the high school gym to the start line. But what I mean is walking helped me prepare for this event. 
Preparation started three years before when I first opened the ChiRunning® book. In ChiRunning, simple principles of nature can help you improve your posture and the way you put that posture into motion. Your running becomes extremely efficient and injury-free. The approach provides simple focus points you can be working on all day long, not just while you are running. ChiWalking® provides another way to practice and body sense the effects of these simple principles. Some of the key focus points are: 1) maintaining a straight column with shoulders over hips over ankles, 2) keeping a level pelvis, 3) reaching forward less and allowing your feet to land under your column, and 4) keeping the hips/pelvis/lower back fluid and allowing the pelvis to rotate back as each leg/stride extends to the rear. Walking even enhances your ability to body sense, since it is a slower and less complex motion than running. The more you practice, the more the principles become ’second nature’. As you start to experience position, form, effort and tension … you can’t help but be more and more mindful during each day.
Walking Your Way to a Key Life Skill
At the same time ChiWalking helps with technique, it also helps develop a key life skill. When you become more mindful during each day, you develop your ability to focus and to be more present. The concept is “where ever you are … be there” [attributed to Jim Rohn]. And put your whole self and effort into what you are currently doing. You could be sitting, standing, walking/hiking or running – they all provide opportunities to explore your practice. And by all means take it all in … the elements of nature, the terrain, the traffic of course (both the four wheeled and the four legged …), but pay most attention to your own dashboard on what your body sensing is telling you about your technique, your practice and your overall fitness program.
As your ability to focus and be more present is developed via your physical fitness program, you will be amazed at how these same skills will support other areas of your life.
Being present is not easy work by any means, particularly for us in the ‘west’. More on this next time.
[Update: Danny Dreyer just posted a new article on the subject of loosening the hips, pelvis and lower back (Improve Your Walking and Running with Pelvic Rotation).]
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David Stretanski is a holistic health, fitness and wellness coach and Certified ChiRunning®/ChiWalking® Instructor. For more information on David, please see his About, Contact page or his website at http://www.eChiFitness.com.
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ChiRunning® and ChiWalking® are registered trademarks of ChiLiving, Inc.
