WALKING YOUR WAY TO ROBUST HEALTH

 From Sampath’s Desk:

 

 

WALKING YOUR WAY TO ROBUST HEALTH

 

A child from age one (perhaps a little earlier or later) tries to stand on its own and starts walking along without any support. Once on its own feet, it unceasingly walks through as a toddler first and then to adolescence, adulthood, middle age, and old age till the logical end. Thus, the simplest activity of humankind, and perhaps of all living beings, is walking. Even though walking is part of our daily activity, walking as an exercise is essential and insisted upon by doctors for one’s robust health. The slogan ‘Walk your diseases away’ is a pointer.

 

Medical experts opine that an early morning empty stomach walk (of course after a cup of liquid meal) confers upon walkers the most beneficial effects on their health. Age is not a bar for walking, subject, of course, to any restrictive medical condition or opinion given to the contrary. Excepting that, people of all ages can and should walk for at least 30 to 40 minutes daily and at least five days in a week. One should walk at a fast pace so that it accelerates the heart rate by 1½ times with the body transuding. A sedentary way of life would bring dormant conditions of any disease to the fore or aggravate an existing condition, it is generally observed.

 

Walking is both a preventive step to guard oneself against diseases like diabetes, hypertension, and obesity, and a control measure even after the onset of health issues. Walking improves blood circulation; it energizes the heart and regulates its activity, oxygen intake, and supply to all tissues including the brain besides being a stress-buster. Walking tones up one’s body and mind. Walking with light loose cotton-wear is advisable so that sweat is absorbed and the body remains cool and comfortable. The shoes should also be light enough to feel comfortable and safeguard the feet. If not a tall order, walk through a greenery area as it will provide aesthetic environs and an optical feast to enjoy while stretching your legs! It is better to avoid crowded areas and roads without footpaths.

 

In the bygone days, walking, running and other exercise regimens were an integral and inevitable component of one’s daily chores. Many of us would remember our elders saying that they had to talk for miles to go to school or any place for that matter.

 

While living in Triplicane (Chennai), I used to walk in the nearby Marina Beach corridor providing a visual delight  - a place still host to a large number of walkers offering a perfect pitch for the exercise. Some would come in cars, get themselves dropped at one end of the beach and walk along for about an hour on either of the two footpaths flanking the beach road or on the inner parallel road, or by wading through the long dry sandy expanse or soggy stretch near the waves, to be picked up later by their drivers at the other end of the road. This is a daily routine one could see.

 

One should enjoy the walking and feel pleasant about it. A regular walker will certainly feel the difference and see for himself/herself the salubrious impact on the overall health condition.

 

Women, in particular, should take to physical exercising or at least walking routinely, because, with aging, health-related issues especially of bone common in them, among others, may erupt. Moreover, it is a welcome diversion for them from the mundane household chores/routines, a break free, temporary though! It is better to go for a walk with your spouse as it helps in various ways. It gives them the much-needed privacy away from the ordinary humdrum and time to be with each other, helping them in having personal talks on issues that mattered to them the most.

 

(R.SAMPATH)

This article was published in the 'Timeout' column of THE INDIAN EXPRESS with the same title on 12.10.2009.