These Boots … Again
So the last time I wrote – These Boots are Made for Walking I had just finished a year of walking. This past week I completed six months of walking over ten miles each day (began Sept 13th). And this week – From Sept 18th 2020: has added up to a year and a half of walking … Every. Single. Day. It is enjoyable – and it takes a great deal of will power.
I remember reading Susan Peirce Thompson’s Bright Line Eating in which she recommends no exercise because you will need all your willpower to NOT eat sugar. But she also recommends taping your mouth shut while you are cooking. I didn’t feel this was the direction I wanted to go. I did try no exercise for the six months when the world stopped on March 13, 2020. That didn’t go so well for me even though she and a few other ‘signs’ had prompted me to try this. It was one of the worst decisions I have ever made.
It is hard to believe that we have passed the two-year mark of COVID-19 and on March 21st – here in Ontario, Canada, we are able to leave our masks behind (except for on public transportation) and we will feel free. Some of us. A friend of mine was told earlier this month he would be suspended if he didn’t show his passport for his vaccines – even when we no longer have passports mandated here publicly, mandates that were ended last month.
Walking honestly saved me from the trauma of this pandemic – walking kept me moving and empowered. It also kept me sane while my sensitivity to the energies became out of control. I am not sure where I would be now if I hadn’t started walking and moving towards Health and Wellbeing. This journey for me has been empowering and one of the most important Spiritual journey’s and Life choices I have made.
For me – walking was so much more than competing with myself and seeing my stats on Fitbit and Optimity (the new Carrot App where you get points that can be used for gift cards for walking). I WAS competitive on a much wider scale. I got my yearly email detailing my fitness journey – the average person with a Fitbit tracker or watch walked 97 days – I walked 365. I completed over 7.5 million steps, so many half marathons that I can’t keep count any more, and my fitness score is now 43 where the score for excellent for my age group is 33.9.
This winter has had several challenges … not just the long winter, the brutal winds, the snow, the rain, the flooding, and ice. I also recently got a terrible case of candida yeast infection – causing sores and blisters as well as some minor challenges with fever and sore throats. Through this all – I continued to walk. I tried to maintain a positive attitude in all this. It hasn’t always been easy. This winter I needed a strong Will.
And I felt that there were days I wondered how I accomplished my walks. I began using Nordic Walking Poles back in October as my compressed nerves needed a bit of assistance to keep my spine erect and reduce pressure. Then I found that they were so much more … They offer a superior cardio experience and build upper body strength. This is something I needed for my health. I have been out of balance with upper body. My arms, shoulders and neck are stronger and happier. I am more balanced.
Walking for me is my meditation. I ponder and talk to nature and Light Beings. And sometimes I just walk. It is so cathartic for me to walk. Mostly I feel the best once the walk is over especially after this long winter. However, after completing this challenge, I know it is now a pattern for me, a healthful habit. In the beginning – and especially when my compressed nerves were at their worst – walking was slower and the same journey took over an hour longer for me to accomplish.
Now two hours seems like nothing. I also wonder how others think that an hour a day is enough. I do a 20-minute warmup that is crucial to my workout – my warmup also gives usually about 40 minutes of active zone minutes (which is the 220 minus your age and includes your resting heart rate – some of Fitbit trackers or watches include Active Zone Minutes vs Active Minutes – I wasn’t impressed when I changed trackers as it meant more work).
The recommendation of the American Heart Association and World Health Organization is that we reach at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity each week. I do this every day and add a few minutes, but as I get stronger, it can take longer and longer to achieve my intensity goal. I guess that is a good thing.
Even if you don’t have any technology to work with moderate-intensity activities are activities that help you break out a sweat – this typically happens when your heart rate is 50% to 60% higher in the activity than when you are at rest. The Cleveland Clinic suggests that some of the moderate exercise activities would be: walking two miles in 30 minutes; biking 5 miles in 30 minutes, walking stairs for 15 minutes, jumping rope for 15 minutes, swimming laps for 20 minutes. So, 150 minutes a week. Or, if you’re competitive like me, 150+ minutes every day. You may need to get approval from your health care professional.
The question I have been contemplating is: what is next? I can’t see that I will change my walking pattern any time soon but I also realized that I didn’t have to continue competing each week to walk more. I realized that my goal of 10 miles (16.1 Kms) was enough for me. Yes, I have overachieved my goals and then question why I am working so hard.
Once the pattern has been established what else is necessary for me? Every morning I force myself (especially during this long winter) to get up and begin my warm up and then go for my walk. But is it necessary to do this every day? My Optimity App only requires 6000 steps per day, not even the 10,000 steps that are recommended by the World Health Organization. Most weeks I have accomplished an average of 30,000 per day – some over, some under – but my weekly stats are usually around 210,000.
Beyond the physical healing of my walking routine I have also enjoyed the people I have met over the past year and a half. This has been an important part of the Healing Journey for me. Meeting my partner was a lot more than I expected and I expect that eventually this event will change a great deal of my world going forward. Change is good for the Soul. And my Soul has found an abundance of Growth.
But what is next? That is the question that always comes up for me. I’m doing well – but what next.
Part of me is afraid of losing momentum. Maybe afraid I will get unhealthy again. These are fears! These are Genuine Fears that have occurred in the past over and over again. But my commitment over the past year and a half has been impressive and has shown a new beginning for me. However, maybe I don’t have to be as focused and push myself every day? Walking the 10,000 steps that is recommended would be pretty easy for me now.
I just am unclear where I would focus my attention? Maybe my business? This past couple of years has certainly taken a toll on my business – but I have been fortunate enough to get on my feet, in my business, sturdily after the downturn. Sometimes I feel like everything is changing and I am up for new adventures. Yet I know that now more than ever our services as Light Workers are needed. The biggest part of our work may just be beginning.
So, I am walking and waiting to see what comes next. I get stronger emotionally, physically, mentally and spiritually with every walk. And I watch. I see so many people walking unconsciously through life and I want to share in the shake up to Wake Up. Love is the ONLY answer to the problems we are experiencing. Fighting, anger, hate are never going to shift us in our quest to Wake Up and Grow Up. It is only LOVE ❤ Love is Giving and Unconditional.
I can’t wait to see what the next six months holds. Love shifts us forward and helps us Evolve our Soul. Let’s LOVE together and Change the World to what our Souls need to take our next steps into the 5th dimension that fear can’t travel to. Imagine this World together and step towards our Divine Selves. Join me and LOVE the World into Balance and a future worth living.