Walk This Way

I just got home from a lovely four-mile walk with Remy, my 3-year-old Goldendoodle. And I realized something during our trek: The other day I was talking about the importance of finding a physical activity that you love to do and then I blathered on and on about my passion for yoga. But I completely forgot to mention the other thing that I do daily that keeps me feeling happy and healthy: Walking. It is such a seamless part of my life that, at the time, it completely escaped my mind! But I walk—a lot. In total, I think I hoofed about six miles yesterday and am well on my way to doing the same today.

Walking is such an easy thing to do and research shows that it may also be one of the best things you can do (entire books have been penned on the benefits of putting one foot in front of the other). Having two dogs, walking is also something I have to do in order to keep the carpets clean, but with the exception of when it’s raining or below zero degrees outside (and sometimes even then) I am usually glad to do it.

Today, I started thinking about how my walking habits have changed over the past few years. Walking became a regular part of my life when I got Remy while living in Utah three years ago. When he was an energetic puppy (although not much has changed) I probably circled the block in my neighborhood about a dozen times per day. As he got a little older, we started hiking regularly. All I had to do was walk outside and before I knew it we were climbing some steep slope, following a trail, stepping over fallen trees, and dodging moose and mountain bikers.

When I moved to Vermont, my mom and I walked a three-mile route down Marble Island Road (as picturesque as it sounds) almost every day for the year and a half that I lived there. Having someone to walk with made an enormous difference. It became more than a way to move my body and a chance for my dogs to expend some energy. It was an opportunity for my mom and I to connect. Not only that, but even though I already loved walking, it made me even more likely to do it; I never wanted to miss out on the opportunity to hang out with my mom.

Before moving to Chicago a few months ago, I was worried that I wouldn’t walk as much because I’d be living in a city where I couldn’t step outside and have immediate access to miles and miles of hiking trails. Boy was I wrong! I walk more now than I ever have before.

Since living here, walking has taken on another purpose altogether. My feet have become my vehicle. In other words I can accomplish things on foot—going to the grocery store, running errands, and more—that I used to have to get in my car to do. (City dwellers are probably rolling their eyes and thinking no sh*t, Paige!) But this is totally new to me and I absolutely love it. This past weekend I had to get something from Bed, Bath & Beyond, which is about 2.5 miles away from me. I laced up my sneakers, walked down Broadway, purchased two cooling racks, and before I knew it I had walked 5 miles. That, in addition to the one-mile loop I did with my dogs three times that day for their morning, afternoon, and evening walks. Eight miles? No sweat! (Actually it was about 90 degrees outside so there was plenty of sweat.)

When I first got the idea to write this blog during one of my walks, my mom reminded me that walking is also my meditation. You’d think that with all of the yoga I do I’d be one of the most blissed out people on the planet. The thing is, yoga remains a deeply physical practice for me. Sure, I ride the post-savasana yoga buzz for several hours after class, but I don’t think I’ve quite grasped the spiritual benefits that yoga has to offer. I am still intensely focused on finding proper alignment within the poses and figuring out how to accomplish some of the more challenging ones. The most yogic thing that I have gained from yoga is probably the understanding that the emotional and spiritual benefits will take root when I am ready for them.

But walking is when I really clear my mind. Sometimes I find that I have gone several minutes without being distracted by a single thought.

And yet other times, I do my best thinking while walking. When I was working on a book project last year, I’d write entire chapters in my head while doing the Marble Island Loop (and somehow miraculously remembered them when I got back to my computer.) And, whenever I get stuck while writing articles for magazines—especially when it comes to thinking up clever leads—I head out for a walk and usually come home with exactly what I need.

On second thought, no matter what got me outside in the first place, I always come home with exactly what I need.