On Walking

I grew up hating walking. Laziness, cultural taboo (motor vehicle's are cool and status symbol), Indian heat, hyper protective mom and the list goes on and on for excuses. But nevertheless, I walked a lot because of necessity sans any pleasure.

I cannot even begin to imagine how much things have changed since Max in the past 4 years (talk about metamorphosis!!). We walk roughly 25 miles a week, every step is a brain de-toxer and memory in the making. It has become our meditation, serotonin inhibitor per se. I haven't stepped into a gym in past few years but never been this fit in my life and Max is close to a prefect Lab.  Besides health, other "fringe" benefits (which are much better than health) - walking in the community builds social relationships, thanks to Max - I have a second mom now,  Max has a grandma and that IMMENSE neural implications of walking in the woods . Johan Lehrer early this year wrote an excellent article on Boston Globe (and here):

I've written before about the powerful mental benefits of communing with nature - it leads to more self-control, increased working memory, lower levels of stress and better moods - but a new study by psychologists at the University of Rochester find that being exposed to wildlife also makes us more compassionate. Nature might be red in tooth and claw, but even a glimpse of greenery can make us behave in kinder, gentler ways.
The question, of course, is why a mere glimpse of nature could lead to behavioral changes. The authors concoct a variety of clever hypotheses, including the possibility that nature "helps connect people to their authentic selves". (For instance, subjects who focused on landscapes and plants reported a greater sense of personal autonomy, at least as measured by the following statement: "Right now, I feel like I can be myself".) According to the scientists, our "authentic selves" - and not the alienated, artificial selves crowded into 21st century cities - are more likely to exhibit the primal traits of hunter-gather society, in which we depended on each other for survival. As usual, Emerson got it right: "Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience."

Again a quote from this fantastic book I am currently reading:

Nothing prevented Soren Kierkegaard in Copenhagen from walking and thinking. "When I have a problem I walk, and walking makes it better," the dour philosopher remarked. In a letter to his niece Jette he goes on: "Do not lose your desire to walk; every day I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from every illness; I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it." Walking cleanses, provokes, and repairs the mind.