Walk

Two mainstays in my healthy life are nourishing herbal infusions and walking.

Yes, I cook all my own food.

Often from local sources, including my own garden,

And foraged food as well.

But if I couldn't, nourishing herbal infusions would provide for me.

Yes, I do a full yoga practice twice a week.

And have done so for sixty years.

Yes, I do Tai chi and Qi gong, erratically.

But if I can't do my practice, walking keeps me going.

Sometimes I can't make nourishing herbal infusion.

But I can always walk.

I keep a step-counter in my pocket,

So I can keep track.

Since my surgery — six years ago next month —

I have gradually increased my walking.

They didn't promise me walking.

They weren't really sure I'd be able to.

Sent me home from the hospital with a walker.

Used the walker once.

Gave it away.

Walked ten steps on my own.

Collapsed.

Next day, twenty steps.

Painful.

Forty steps.

Back to bed.

Within a month I was walking outside.

To the mailbox.

Then to the cedar tree.

Finally, to the river.

Breathing through the pain.

Step by step.

And now I walk miles.

I dance at moonlodge.

But that's only once a month.

I stretch at yoga.

But that's only once a week.

I walk every day.

I can always find a place to walk,

Indoors or out.

Day or night.

Hotel corridors.

City parks.

Country lanes.

Deer paths.

Neighborhoods.

Taking in the sights,

Or sinking into meditation,

Walking.

Walking in the moonlight with Grandmother Moonwalker.

I often walk for twenty or thirty minutes before bed.

To reach my current daily goal of at least four miles.

And to ensure I wake up ready to rock and roll.

No morning stiffness for me, thank you.

As I walk,

I open my hands and feel energy flowing through them.

As I walk,

I open my feet to the upwelling energy of the earth.

Barefoot helps.

As I walk,

I open my chest, lower my shoulders,

And breathe in chi.

Oxygen circulation is enhanced by walking,

Feeding my joints.

My Qi gong teacher, a chiropractor,

Told us that joints are fed only when we move them.

So I move them.

Energy flow to the extremities is enhanced by walking.

Chi in every toe and every finger.

Chi in my scalp and chi in my heart.

The more I walk, the better I feel.

The more I walk, the less lymphedema I have in my left buttock.

The more I walk, the happier my mitochondria are.

Any walk counts.

Ten minutes counts.

Once around my house is 100 steps.

Takes one minute.

Ten minutes is 1000 steps, half a mile.

Ten minutes every hour adds up to

Four miles in eight hours.

Visiting my sister and her wife Shakti,

In San Miguel de Allende,

I asked to walk.

Forty minutes later, I was begging for a rest.

"I thought you said you walk four miles a day," Shakti said.

"Not all at once," I replied.

After decades of being still while teaching,

More and more I find myself walking as I teach.

Small classes facilitate this.

Walking. Ah.

May it be in beauty.

May I remember to give myself away.

And to accept what is gifted to me.

May my heart always beat as one with the earth's heartbeat.

May I see the green blessings that surround me.

May I be filled with gratitude

And joy.

I went for a walk down the road.

Here is what I saw.

Here is what I photographed.

There are fifteen plants in this quilt.

Can you identify them all?

Some are already flowering.

That makes it easier to identify them.

Some aren't there yet.

Without flowers, it is more difficult to be certain who they are.

For extra fun, after identifying them,

find the botanical names,

Unless you already know them.

Hint.

That's not dandelion.

Yes.

That's a picture of the river from the bridge.