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lf there is a panacea in medicine it is walking Norman Doidge b |
If you place an exercise wheel in a rats cage it will use it They naturally want to move A rat |
that uses a wheel is much more mentally and physically healthy than a rat caged without one |
It is also more resilient to stress and will live longer regularly have to remind myself that too |
have a wheel in my cage and it is the block live on Merely walking around your block a few |
times each day can vastly improve your mental and physical health |
Walking keeps your respiratory and cardiovascular systems strong by providing them with |
a light challenge However for a rat to attain health benefits its use of a wheel must be |
voluntary If the rat feels forced the exercise becomes stressful and many of the benefits |
disappear So when walk dont hurry have no time limit and no particular destination to |
reach For me the endorphins from a voluntary minute walk make me feel like am no |
longer in a cage Those from a minute walk turn a soso day into a splendid one |
Modernday huntergatherers average around miles of walking and trotting every day |
Like all mammals we are designed to move Some doctors urge patients to take steps |
daily which equates to about five miles and takes about an hour and a half In my opinion this |
is excessive for many people especially those who co not walk regularly They quickly develop |
back knee and ankle pain at this rate Instead shoot for a healthy fraction of this that is |
comfortable for you You might start somewhere between and steps |
While mortality rates improve progressively with the number of steps taken daily this |
positive effect levels off after approximately steps three miles per day This |
demonstrates that you certainly dont need to walk a full steps each day to reap the |
benefits You might want to use your car or a GPS to measure the distance around your block |
Once you have that distance in miles multiply it by there are around steps ina |
mile to find out how many steps it takes to circle your block and then how many laps you |
should shoot for to reach your desired total distance Wherever you choose to walk you should |
find that after a few thousand steps you feel your bracing patterns and emotional tensions |
begin to wash away |
At the end of Chapter we will discuss the panoply of health benefits from regular |
exercise in more detail The remainder of this chapter will discuss how to get the most out of |
your walks It will coach you to walk assertively with impeccable posture while employing anti |
rigidity and taking appropriate breaks and counterposes Basically it details how you can turn |
your walks into time spent putting Program Peace into practice |
Use Good Posture While Walking in Public |
Whenever we encounter someone the first impulse is to query friend or foe Unconscious |
circuits in the brain work to decide Are they going to attack me Are they easily provoked |
Are they analyzing me waiting for me to submit before they decide whether to be hostile |
PROGRAM PEACE Self Care Exercises to Reprogram Your Mind and Body |
Then we try to determine if they did have ill intentions would they have the power to enact |
them In other words we size them up to see which one of us would prevail in a physical |
altercation Often regardless of whether we think we could win we let our posture cave in |
Dont do any of these things The inclination to size up others turns our world into a hostile |
place from the inside out However we do want to be aware of how others size us up |
Psychologists criminologists and law enforcement personnel agree that walking like a |
victim increases the likelihood of being mugged or assaulted They recommend that we walk |
with a purpose Studies have shown that criminals can identify people with histories of |
victimization by their gait They walk like an easy target asynchronously timidly with short |
strides Depressed people also have a characteristic way of walking They exhibit reductions in |
walking speed stride length vertical head movement and arm movement at the shoulder and |
elbow When you walk do the exact opposite |
People who walk like despondent prey are advertising their victimization so others can see |
that they dont want to compete They are communicating that they will give in to a bully |
But the same selfhandicapping that will repel a competitor will attract a predator There is a |
fundamental tradeoff to submissive posture and that is being ripe for predation This is why |
the best way to carry yourself is to use the optimal postures described in the preceding |
chapters without a hint of either competitiveness or vulnerability |
Your neck should be straight with your chin tucked in toward your throat Your shoulders |
should be pressed down and back Your eyes should be wide and looking upward Your face |
and your entire body should be relaxed You should be breathing smooth slow long deep |
breaths through your nose This combination of comfort and confidence should help you see |
the strangers you encounter on your walks as compatriots and allies A zygomatic smile and a |
cordial salute can help them see you in the same way |
Walk spryly with nonchalant control and balance Expand yourself In becoming more |
expansive channel a peacock fanning its tail feathers a cat galloping sideways or a baboon |
romping through foliage Feel the animal strength in your body Extend your neck and roll your |
shoulders back so that you can openly display your chest This gives a signal to others that you |
are not afraid of being attacked Hands placed near the hips show readiness for action hands |
behind the back signify confidence Head erect and neck retracted demonstrate the posture of |
a military general an elite athlete or royalty Think imperial dignifiedregal Visualize yourself |
emanating gravitas and a commanding presence Good posture leads others to assume that you |
must have much to be confident about and they will accept what you project |
Huntergatherers have been documented to steal meat from lions by merely walking up to |
them and taking it How you ask They walk with purpose They wait until a lion kills a |
wildebeest Then as few as three humans will approach a pride of as many as one dozen hungry |
beasts They walk directly toward the lions from a distance without a hint of hesitation One by |
one the lions buy into the illusion grow wary and flee the site Walking while projecting |
assertion intention and mettle is incredibly powerful and acts as a selffulfilling prophecy |
As You Walk Own the Space Around You |
It is common to see a monkey feeding peacefully in one spot but then depart suddenly when |
approached by another monkey who promptly claims the spot Behavioral biologists have a |
word for when one animal makes another animal move It is called displacement It happens |
Chapter Use Optimal Posture and Antirigidity While Walking |
when a subordinate animal uses its knowledge of the hierarchy to determine that a |
confrontation should be avoided It allows the other animal to evict it from the physical space it |
was occupying Preferred spaces can involve food like a prime spot of grass They can involve |
mates like a spot closer to a fertile female Sometimes animals are forced to move from |
unremarkable spaces where they happen to be Dont allow anyone to evict you from where |
you happen to be |
This is not a call to be impolite Be thoughtful when passing people share space |
open doors move over to accommodate couples or to make room for children families or the |
elderly However dont displace yourself to appease an imposing person any more than you |
would for someone who wasnt Hold your ground and expect them to move out of the way as |
much as you do When walking own your immediate space as well as your entire forward |
trajectory through space It may feel like you are flouting social customs but remember that |
you are not doing anything illegal You are doing invaluable internal work increasing the |
boundaries of your comfort zone When you inevitably bump into someone be firm but |
amiable about it |
Many people have told me that my cat is the calmest they have ever seen This may be |
because am calm around him treat him like a friend and pet him firmly fluidly and slowly |
But think the main reason for his composure is that respect his space make an effort not to |
step over him or walk so close to him that he fears being trampled give him authority over his |
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