Our legs reveal our true age. No, we don’t need to wear long skirts and ankle-length pants to conceal how much we’ve aged. With pinches of whoosh! escaping from our nostrils, we make a few steps, sort of child-like hobble, and there it is, the sharp proof: We’re old! The people who used to be crackling wires of energy doing social roarings would now rub butter to their spine and knees to keep them walking strong past sixty for coordination and balance.
The average person can walk the equivalent of five times around the world in his lifetime. One who nears his senior years is advised to take 10,000 steps a day to stay healthy. Probably a wise advice, but nevertheless, lessening the number of steps say, from 4,000 steps to 2,337 can positively reduce the risks of a cardiovascular disease death. One conclusive note: regular walkers have shorter sick days when taken ill. Our feet are the anchors and sustaining foundation for the whole body for support, balance, and proper posture. Strong legs are indispensable for individual mobility — to walk, stand, run, jump, and sensibly absorb shock. Weak legs bring about faster aging and consequent mobility loss. Balance is compromised, stepping off a curb calls for some spunk. Legs are the first thing to weaken and lose strength as we age. Feet deficiencies can negatively impact the knees, hips, spine, and likely, our mental health.
Walking is the most accessible workout. It is good for the heart — a medicine to combat a winnable war: life’s risks, ageing, and dying young. It is the ultimate exercise, improves mood, boosts oxygen supply in the brain which means less of an unlikely chance of an Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, raise energy levels and burns surplus calories. Walking improves digestion and stimulates the stomach and intestines.
Get off the treadmill. Stop weaseling and flipflopping. Ignore the unpleasantness of copious perspiration and the idea of stumbling from exhaustion. No pain. No gain. So we get cracking, draw in the morning air and get moving as the sun warms up. Nature walks in the morning sunlight relieves anxiety and the previous night’s insomnia. Enjoy the sights and sounds around you. Breathe deeply to relax the lungs. Shake off the blah. The more you stay curled up in your armchair, the more you miss out on life while the rest of the world happily spins without you. Move. Now. Time passed never comes back. The more you refuse to go out of your rut, the more you get stuck in a mental sinkhole. It is time now to just live life.
Walk slowly. Life is not a hundred-yard dash but a progression of moments. Walking slowly, especially in the mornings, sets the rhythm of our spirits. A walk in nature is healing, a non-medical therapy. Walk more. Sit less. Start each day fresh, each new morning a tabula rasa. And! Walking backwards helps the memory. It activates brain circuits linked to spatial awareness.
So we get cracking, draw in the morning air and get moving. Hear the wind, smell the flowers and zesty herbs. Listen to the tree branches whipping in the wind and moist breeze sweeping in softly. Feel intoxicated, together with the forest, in the early morning golden bath.
Wear a good pair of shoes. Prolonged walking with improper shoes impacts the feet and causes discomfort or injury: no worn-out sneakers, backless slippers and sandals, and thick heavy boots. Forget about teetering along on spindly heels — you’re no Catriona Gray. Walk during the daylight, in well-lit areas. After sunset, wear reflective gear for visibility. Bring your phone but don’t use it while walking or if you have to, keep your headphones low so as not to miss any distractions around you. And, have someone to walk with you. It keeps boredom away and intruders wary while you’re on the road. At all times, keep eyes and ears receptive to road safety, vehicular traffic, and sidewalk dips and bumps.
On our senior years, we may have lost some of our youth’s rakishness, and rued about the drooping onetime Parton-esque bosom. Growing old is a unique blessing. Walk, we have to. We make memories and opportunities to inspire others. It holds off sightseeing on a cold wheelchair.
