Day 16-Ommm...I feel GOOD--nah nah nah nah nah nah!

That's me in yellow, post-walk.

I am REALLY busy today. My walk was shorter than usual and uneventful. I barely fit it in, and had to pull myself away from my desk in the middle of the day to do it. But I did it. 

And you know what? 

It still felt wonderful and I find myself asking, “Why haven’t I been walking every day my whole life?”

Or better yet---“Why don’t I walk every day for the rest of my life?”

My head is more clear, I’m less overwhelmed (even though I still have lots to do), and I feel good. Like I knew that I would.

XOX

Dani

Day 15- I Let the Dogs Out

The more I do this walking thing, the more I realize that my pooches--Betty, LaRue and Tootie--are getting serious benefits from this little project. 

Day 15, and I realize that the trio of 4-legged mentals that wrassle under my desk while I'm trying to work don't do that anymore. The moronic and annoying play-fighting that gets so loud I can't hear myself think hasn't shown up for a couple of weeks. Hey---that's how long I've been walking! 

You don't need to be a genius to figure it out. Or maybe you do, and maybe I am. Probably not, though. 

LaRue, however, IS a genius. Can't you tell?

I've always known you're supposed to walk your dog every day.  Really, though? They were getting maybe 3-4 walks per week before I took on Walk the Year. They've been along for the journey, and now they are more relaxed, don't participate in the grating pretend dog fights at my feet, and THEY LEAVE ME ALONE WHILE I WORK. 

Tootie's been sleeping through the night. No more pacing across our heads while we snooze.

My head looks so BEEG in this picture...

Plus, Betty, who was getting a little paunchy, has trimmed back down...mostly.

You called me "paunchy"?  I can't even look at you anymore...

So, more relaxed, sleeping better, less fighting and crankiness, trimming down. All from daily walking. Don't have a dog? That's okay. YOU get these same benefits and more when you take daily walks, too. You still have to poop indoors, though.

Good walking today, 

Dani

P.S. Happy Birthday to my Soul Mate, Jeff! You rock. You make me swoon. 
I love you.

Day 14--The Choice Isn't Always Clear

On my walk this morning, I spied this lovely, tiny patch of gravel in a tiny yard. Two plastic chairs, together. 

 

It was so cool. This postage stamp yard with not much else, but they made it good for them. 

This choice between happiness and unhappiness is one of the things I love most about being a cognitive human being. We always have the choice when we deal with life whether we want to be happy about things or not. 

 

The choice isn’t always clear, but I know which one is always better. Life’s going to happen, things might get poopy, but you choose how you deal with that. 

 

Always look on the bright side of life…

and enjoy your walk today, 

Dani

 

Day 13--I walk and you walk, too!

So here's another poem for you

I walked today, it's what I do

I brought along a kid or two

No pics to show, cuz nothing new

And now my short, lame rhyme is through!

I hope you liked your walking, too!

Best,
Dani

PS-Sorry so short, but I have a date with The Avengers.

Day 12--Left Foot, Left Foot, Right Foot, Right

I walked today

And it was great

Kids biked ahead

They didn't wait

Now I must weed

Before it's late

The rains will come

Clouds won't abate

My post is short

Don't be irate

I'll write again

With a new update!  


-Dani

P.S.-I mistakenly titled yesterday's post "Day 12" when it was really "Day 11".

 

Day 11-Sunshine and Lollipops

Today is beautiful! You know it! My post will be short because I want to go garage sale prowling and to the Farmer's Market and it's AWESOME out! 

I had company on my walk today, and that's always fun. It's good to be comfy walking alone, but a walk with someone is always a fun way to connect. And laugh. And talk about future possibilities.

And I love Fort Ward---we're so lucky to have it here on Bainbridge!

Walk, garden, sit, read, play, love, enjoy, I'll see you tomorrow! 

Dani

Day 10. Day 10!

I walked out the door this morning and immediately got something in my eye. That is never fun, but for those of you that wear contact lenses, you know that the tiniest speck feels as if someone is jamming their sharp thumbnail into your eye socket. It’s rough. I stubbornly didn’t want to go back in and rinse my lenses out, so I sallied forth, one hand cupped over the bad eye as tears streamed down my face.

Needless to say, my walk didn’t begin so well, and even though whatever boulder was in my eye finally fell out, I was cranky. Instead of hearing the birds and delighting in dew on grass, I was stomping along, thinking about bills, debt, how dirty my house was—all unpleasant, and, let’s face it, unhelpful thoughts. 

Fortunately, I caught myself after about 3 blocks. Mostly because it felt bad, and this whole walking things feels good. I noticed the difference.

 

So I shook it off. And my little episode brought to mind a saying I frequently use to help my family—and myself---understand when others might behave in certain ways that don’t work for us. It’s simple in a Forrest Gump-sort of way:

 

Everybody Looks Out at the World wearing Different Glasses. 

 

It’s true. Your frames might be red, your lenses smudged, or you might put on black horn rims with spotless lenses except for one scratch in the corner. Regardless, it affects how you see the world. 

 

Even though someone might have exactly the same frames as you, their prescription is quite different. Your glasses are your belief system. Without it, things would seem unclear, out of focus. 

It doesn’t always mean that you like Janet’s cat-eye glasses on her or your conservative relative appreciates your new titanium frame-less specs. But it is important to remember that we all wear different glasses and it affects the things we do, the things that leave our lips, and how we view the things others say and do.

It doesn’t really make things easier when some jackass is, well, a jackass. But if you remember that his glasses are different than yours, then hopefully you can understand that his or her jackass-ness has little to do with you, and a lot to do with the glasses perched on the end of his nose.

By the way, today is Day 10. Day 10! I don’t think I’ve ever done any form of healthy anything for 10 whole days in a row. You know what? This feels totally doable, and totally wonderful. Anyone can do this.You can, too.

I hope you enjoy these next few days---going to be beautiful out there,

Dani

Day 9-Early Morning Accounting

 

I walked at 5 AM today. Early morning walks are super cool, once you get your butt out the door.

When it’s dark, it’s more about the aural than the visual, which is good for your brain to play around with every once in awhile.

On my walk, I heard:

-1 pheasant squawking

-19 different birds chirping

-2 hummingbirds whirring

-at least 30 busy bees humming in the lavender

and 1 deer crashing through the brush

I also saved 2 worms. I do that. Almost every day on those early walks. The way I see it, evolution takes thousands and millions of years. Our asphalt and concrete have only been around for 150 or so. These worms and snakes and bugs and critters haven’t had time to figure it out, evolutionarily speaking.

So, I try and figure out which direction that worm is headed, and I give them a boost.  It’s what I do. 

 

I hope I’m helping. Yesterday I picked up 3 bumblebees, drunk and laden with pollen, off the parking lot asphalt at work and placed them gently in a rhododendron. I carry spiders in my bare hands to safe havens outside.

I hope these tiny acts of kindness have deposited enough Karma into my Cosmic Bank Account so that I don’t go into overdraft for all the slugs I’ve lured into beer-filled shallow pie tins over the years and the ants I’ve been ruthlessly squashing on my kitchen walls this week.

It should balance out, if my accounting is correct. 

Have a lovely walk today, 

Dani

 

Day 8-Talking the Walk

Today’s walk was fairly short---I spent all morning at my Exercise Rehab office downtown, trying to wrangle some new scheduling software. It was productive, but I was chomping at the bit to get outside and get my daily walk in. It seems to be a unanticipated benefit of Walk the Year. I can’t wait to walk. Hmm…how ‘bout that?

Since my brain had already worked pretty hard this morning, no brilliant ideas for books or profundities snuck into my head while I strolled. So, I won’t be able to pass any of my Jack Handy-esque Deep Thoughts your way today, but I can teach you something about walking. As in, the actual mechanics of good walking. I think I’ll do this every once in awhile. It’s good for me to verbalize what I know and have learned, and it’s good for you to perhaps learn something concrete about this absolutely perfect form of exercise. 

As long as you’re not on a treadmill.

That’s what I said. Get off your treadmill.

I know, I know, it’s irresponsible of me to dissuade you from exercising, right? Well, what if I told you that the same motion on a treadmill as the one you do outside uses fewer muscles? Wait! Don’t we want more muscles to burn more calories and help keep us in better alignment?

We do.

The “tread” on a treadmill moves in a constant circular motion so that you don’t walk into a wall. Unfortunately, as the “ground” rolls away from you, you’re not using all your muscles to “push off” in a natural gait pattern. You are simply lifting your leg (and using too much of your hip in the process!) and letting it fall again. This strain on your hip flexors, not to mention the complete under-utilization of your butt muscles (which are already seriously under-used due to your desk time), results in other parts of your body OVER-COMPENSATING which leads to…ahem…pain. 

Show Them Roundies Some Love! Get Off Them and Move Better!

Next time you try going it on the treadmill, pay attention to what your body does, and how it feels during and after. Then compare those feelings after a walk around your neighborhood or through the forest. 

For reals. 

I hope you enjoyed using all your muscles on your walk today, 

Dani

Day 7- Adventure is subjective

What do you think of when you hear the word adventure?

 

Indiana Jones jumping through giant spider webs and dodging poison darts?

Climbing in the Grand Tetons with only a 35-pound pack and no matches?

Turning right when you’re walking instead of your usual “left”?

 

Here are some definitions:

1. an exciting or very unusual experience.

2. participation in exciting undertakings or enterprises: the spirit of adventure.

3. a bold, usually risky undertaking; hazardous action of uncertain outcome.

When I think of adventure, I see all possibilities great and small.

An adventure can be anything from rappelling into a dark canyon to ordering jalapeno poppers instead of your usual onion rings. Every day can be an adventure, especially when you set out on your walk. Take time to find something cool or nifty about your daily jaunt. Don’t worry what anyone else would think if you rushed home to tell them about it.  It’s your life, your adventure, and you are the only tour guide. Put on your glasses that let you see what a truly remarkable world we’re lucky enough to spend time in.

I hope your walk was an adventure,

Dani

Day 6-Why the Rain Can't Be Beat for Walkin'

Did you know that walking in the rain can actually IMPROVE your mood and health?

Negative ions, Baby!

Yeah!

Quick ion primer:

Electromagnetic Frequencies or EMFs profoundly affect a person's biochemistry and they are found everywhere around us, in positive and negative form.

When you use a cell phone, turn on the television, use a computer, or a dryer to dry your clothes, florescent lights, etc., you are being exposed to positive ions (which are actually not “positive” for you).

Say what?! Yes, they affect your biochemical electrons and cause them to spin in an opposite direction. This is how oxidation occurs, and diseases begin to set in. Here's some facts:

Negative ions are beneficial to human body in four major ways:
Reprinted from "Economy Daily News" - January 30, 2002

• Strengthen the functions of autonomic nerves
• Reinforces collagen (tissues that are resilient and tension-related)
• Improves the permeability of the cell's prototype plasma membranes (improves metabolism)
• Strengthens the body's immune system

Cool. What? There's more?

"The action of the pounding surf creates negative air ions and we also see it immediately after spring thunderstorms when people report lightened moods," says ion researcher Michael Terman, PhD, of Columbia University in New York.

For my own research--totally NOT scientific--when I was a dog walker, I spent 2 years outside in the rain and NEVER got sick. 

When my son was younger, he suffered from Seasonal Affective Disorder. Our wonderful pediatrician suggested we replace baths with showers. BOOM!

His SAD was G-O-N-E. 

Why do people sing in the shower? Think about it.  

 

 

Even Monkey Feet love walking in the rain!

It's okay. Stand tall, don't cringe as the drops fall on your sweet face, but meet the rain and enjoy the benefits it offers, free of charge.Look up...it's coming from Heaven, right?

Enjoy your walk today, 

Dani

Day 5-Sometimes a Walk is Just a Walk

Sometimes we walk to raise our heart rates and get that cardio exercise in. Sometimes we walk to get from Point A to Point B. Sometimes we walk to clear our heads. Sometimes we walk to spend time with someone we love, and other times we walk to get away from someone we don't. Sometimes we walk to get ideas, and sometimes we walk to mull them over.

And sometimes, a walk is just a walk. Today as I walked, thoughts popped up into my head and dropped out as quickly as Pez Candy in an open dispenser. I had not intention for my walk, other than to do it, and my mind followed suit. It was like I had Transient Global Amnesia--I'd see a dandelion and think Huh, a dandelion and before you know it, it was gone and my noggin was as empty as a dry kettle.

Nothing productive happened, no ideas for novels popped into my head, no schedule snafus were worked out. I just walked, and came home feeling cleansed and whole and clear and ready.

I hope your walk is good for you today,

Dani

Day 4-Just Do the Thing

Last night, my husband was asking me about this blog. I hadn't talked about it all with him, but we ARE Facebook friends, so he was aware of it. After I explained the point of the blog, and the goal, he asked, "So, is there a distance every day you have to cover? Or, so much time walking per day?"

No. No rules. Just walk every day.

"So, could someone just walk out to their mailbox and call it good?" he half-joked.

I guess. If that's what constitutes a walk for them. Everybody has different thresholds, different levels. 

A couple of years ago, I went to NYC and trained in diastasis rehabilitation. It has helped me help many people with their back pain and pelvic floor issues, but one thing that has always bugged me about the prescription was the numbers. Too many reps. I believe I lost over half my pupils' attention once I let them know how many hundreds of reps they supposedly had to do every day to make their cores stronger. Very few people could stick with the program. So I started to pay attention to how many mattered, and I modified the program, making it more doable for everyone. And I learned something--the numbers don't add up, but the muscle movement does.

So now, when I teach something--anything--I tell people:

Don't worry about the numbers. The numbers don't matter. The thing matters. Just do the thing.

If you're not doing anything, and I tell you that you have to get up and out every day and walk 3 miles, it's going to sound awesome to you for about 3-5 days, and then you'll tell me to go to hell. I know.

BUT...if I tell you to get out and walk every day, just walk. However long you want. Then it's more likely you're going to do it. Because then you're doing something, which is better than nothing.

If you only did 20 bicep curls today, but you usually try and do 40, do you suck?

No way. You're still doing the thing. The universe doesn't really care about how many reps you do. It just wants the motion.

Don't worry about the numbers. Just do the thing.

Today our walk was only 35 minutes. And it was still lovely.

I hope you enjoyed your walk today. It's beautiful out there.

Dani

Day 3-Serendipity, Ignorance and the Peeling of Tree Bark

Today's walk was COOL. I mean, really cool. I was driving down a road I never drive down. The plan was that I would get to the end (we live on an island, so there are lots of road ends) and then the pooches and I would get out and explore. However, there was a park sign on the way to the road end, so we turned in. Manzanita Park. Two things you should know about this park if you go.

One--it adjoins a saddle club, so your dog CANNOT be off leash. Sorry. However, the proximity to the saddle club more than makes up for the fact that you have to follow the law, because there are some pretty cool features. You'll see.

Two--If your dog likes horse poop, then beware. There are piles everywhere. Fresh, stale, tartare and poached, it's a poo-eater's paradise. Betty the Dog, a practitioner of coprophagy (poo-eating), was beside herself with glee as we embarked on Day 3 of Walk the Year in this new place. Dogs Tootie and LaRue are not regular scat-chompers, so their focus was on the trail, not so much the copious piles of BM. But Betty...I think I could've cut off Betty's two front legs and she still would've been pushing herself frenetically through that forest with her hind legs, trying to gobble dooky like a deranged canine wheelbarrow.

Dung aside, this was beautiful. Winding trails that let you get lost quickly, ages-old overgrown and mossy equestrian hurdles and props, and the smells of green everywhere. I will be going here at least twice weekly--that's how cool it is.

There was so much rustling in the bushes as we roamed, that the dogs kept getting distracted, even Betty. Critters galore, scampering through the forest. Then I heard some bigger crashing, and I thought, "Doh! Sasquatch!" My heart even jumped a little, and I'm a fairly stalwart gal.

No. No Sasquatch. People. Of the Native American persuasion. Peeling BARK OFF THE TREES!
Like this...

So, I sort of backed into the bushes and snapped some pictures surreptitiously--VERY Nancy Drew--thinking I would catch some bad guys. After I snapped some shots, they saw my flash. NOT very Nancy Drew. I had to step forward and show myself. Asked them if they were peeling bark off the trees.

"Yes. For baskets. We make baskets."

Oh. Asked them if it hurt the trees.

"No, it grows back. Eventually."

Really?

"Yeah, eventually."

Sigh. So, I didn't want to be an uppity, uninformed person. I don't know if it grows back. I'm getting online to research it, though. You bet I will. I walked away, feeling vaguely sick that maybe I should've known more so I could stop someone from hurting trees, but then I thought, maybe I shouldn't be getting riled up about some Natives getting the supplies they need to make some traditional crafts. Ignorance is such helplessness, sometimes. Unless you're walking in a poo forest with Coprophagous Betty. Then it's probably best to not know what she's munchin'.

 

I hope you enjoyed your walk today, 

Dani

Day 2-Coaxing Ourselves into Caring for Ourselves

Tootie is one of my dogs. She's a 6-pound chihuahua.

Tootie, 6-pound dynamo

Sometimes, when I walk early in the morning, getting Tootie out the door is like putting pantyhose on a guinea pig. She looks at me forlornly with those big goggle eyes as I pry her out of her warm, steamy little nest, as if to say,"Why do you hate me so?"

Once she's in her harness and coat (hey, she gets cold), she stands there shivering and quivering while we hold her leash so she doesn't bolt back upstairs and into our bed. Today, Jeff was putting her coat on her while I put my toe-shoes on, and I heard him coo reassuringly, "C'mon, Toots, it'll be fun."

She didn't think so while I pulled her like a stubborn donkey out the door.

No way, man. 

And, she resisted to the end of our driveway, around the corner, down the street, reluctantly following me and the two other pooches.

But then, she peed, got used to the chill of dawn, and suddenly pulled out in front of us, prancing and high-stepping. Sniffing, looking, listening. Darn it all if if Jeff wasn't right--that dog was having fun. 

However, I felt the same way as Tootie this morning at 4:55 when the alarm went off. The only thing that got me up was the fact that I have this blog and want to complete my goal of walking 365 days in a row. It ended up being fun for me, too, but until I heard Jeff coaxing Tootie, I was mentally resisting the walk, as well.

Funny how often we need to be coaxed into doing something that is oh, so good for us, yet never have to convince ourselves to shove three handfuls of Cheetos into our mouths. If it were reversed, our health would be better, for sure, and our butts not as wide. It isn't, though. We have to continually make the choice, every single minute, to do something that is helpful, not harmful to ourselves, our bodies, our minds, our spirits. And that's one of the gifts we've been given. Choice. You won't be perfect in your choices, but every choice is a chance to do something that is helpful to you.

I hope your walk is wonderful today!
Dani