Walk It Off

"Walk It Off"

A new year is upon us, welcome 2015!  It is winter in Michigan, the temperatures hovering in the single digits, although the sun is out, the clouds are white and the sky is blue.  I love to walk, although usually during the cold bitter Michigan winters I take a pass.  My mindset has been it is too cold to walk.  This winter I am determined to change my perspective and continue with my daily outside walks, no matter the conditions.

It is the start of a new year and with that come the resolutions to begin again.  Although I do not have excess weight to contend with, a number of people have a goal to lose pounds come January after the indulgence of the holidays.  Walking is a healthy option to assist this plan.  Walking requires little expense, a pair of shoes (and warm clothing if you are in the North Country).  For me I have quick access to a path in the woods right out my back door, so I save time driving to a gym or other facility.  It is perfect for firming leg muscles, enhancing the cardiovascular system and breathing in fresh oxygen.

The past two months I have been reading books on the Camino de Santiago, a pilgrimage through Spain’s northern regions.  It is a month long trek through towns, fields and mountains.  While certainly a physically taxing journey, the Camino(the Way) becomes more of a mental, emotional and eventually a spiritual journey, similar to our quest through life.  This is what walking means to me.  I walk, not only because I want to walk, for the health benefits.  My physical body is aided certainly, but my mental, emotional and spiritual bodies are supported as much or more so.  I walk off tension.  I walk off stress.  I walk off anxiety.  I walk off fear.

Walking connects me to Nature.  It helps me to understand my role in the Divine Order of the Universe.  It provides patience, understanding and a knowing that all is well and good.  I see myself as an integral part of creation and related to everything around me.  I walk off my feeling of separation and abandonment.  I walk and I understand my connection to the Source. 

So in 2015, I challenge you to “walk it off”.

Susan J. McFarland

January, 2015