Walking Shoes - Walking and Other Exercise

[Guest_1055]

Hey to anyone reading this.

Last night I had an idea about starting a new thread about exercise especially walking. I am aware that walking is very beneficial for our mental, emotional and physical well being. And by actually doing it....well it can make a huge difference to how we cope with the storms that we face in life.

OK, I am not real good at disciplining myself to walk, and have to really push myself to do it. And sometimes it is even hard to leave this bedroom. Anyway I am not a beginner walker, as I have stuck to sort of a plan before. So I know that it does make me feel somewhat better. But I only stayed on the plan for a couple of months, then gave up.....for whatever reason. So here I am again wanting desperately to not fail this time.

So I guess this thread is for anyone that does walk, anyone that is struggling to walk because of depression or anxiety issues. And anyone else really......

I am unsure of the outcome of all this. But my ideas included: Sharing about things we have found out about exercise especially about walking. Writing down the reasons that one would chose to walk ( like something to help motivate). Being accountable in same way. Sharing about the places where we actually do walk, like the beach, gym, around the block, with the dog, out to the clothesline and back. And any other useful tips that could help others. So here we go......

[Guest_1055]

Ah Mrs D, its good to see you.

Sorry you experienced that panic attack. Things just get too much sometimes. I think I would have felt like running in that 8 hour situation you were in.

Perhaps the 14 days will go by quick and you can walk on the beach again. And the road.

It's good you have a large garden though so you can still move around outside. Are you still doing your stretches?

[Guest_1055]

Hi all,

Today I went for a walk in an oldish town about a 20 min drive from my place. It was a spontaneous walk, never planned at all. I think I liked it much better that way.

We pick up large containers of water from an organic store on a regular basis. Today I bought a warm cauliflower and potato soup from the cute cafe inside the store. We then drove to a park and sat on a picnic table. I sat huddled there spooning in the warm nourishing soup.

The person who I was with suggested we go for a walk. So from the park we headed into the town.

We walked past a large skateboard and bike park. No one there though. Down a path onto a dirt road that was having some kind of road works done to it. We saw bulldozers and such. But no workers. We followed this just a bit, to we came to a brand new athletic park. It had a running lanes, long jump pit things, and other things as well as a small stand with seats. All very modern and new.

We looked at all this as we walked by it. Following this path we came into streets with houses. Mostly old houses. There was a school there too. We walked past that and headed towards a grassy hill. Once on top of the hill, we saw the river below. Not much water in there though. I could even see the sandy river bank on the other side at one point. We walked on top of the hill, because we could see sort of a trodden area of grass in a line running along the river. Maybe it was the locals walking track. We followed it until we reached a fence with a private property sign on it. It really was a lovely spot. I think I will come here again and walk another time.

We turned around and heading back the way we had come. We walked right past the hill that we walked up first. This grassy trail kept going until it turned into a beautiful brick stone path. Quite wide. With the river on one side below us and little cafes and shops on the other. This was the backs of these cafes. But you could buy your coffee or whatever and enjoy it out here on the equally beautiful made picnic tables. It was like the cafes had 2 entrances. I am definitely coming back here again. At one point we walked down a lane between 2 cafes onto the main street in town. We walked past a few shops, a few historical pubs, a couple of op shops, post office and even a skateboard store. I peered in the window of that one. Just to see what they had......

[Guest_1055]

..... We kept walking more. I waited once while the person I was with needed to do something. While I sat perched on this... ledge thing. I studied the architecture on the buildings in front of me. Just so much character. I really liked them. One building had the year 18 something etched in on the very top.

After my "waiting rest" we continued on walking past the rest of the historical buildings.

I really did enjoy this spontaneous walk. And will most likely write again about the river part of the walk.

[Doolhof]

Hello david, Shelley and all reading,

Thank you so much for sharing your walk Shelley, I do enjoy reading everyone's comments here. I did have a walk in the back garden, going up and down and around and around. I was trying to listen to the bird song above the noise of the trucks!

I go for walks here a lot of the time to escape the traffic noise. Maybe if it is to intrusive I can wear ear plugs while walking in the garden.

I tried to take notice of the different textures and colours of the leaves. Some of the gum trees are producing tiny flower buds.

We are going to have a wonderful display of sour sobs again this year! I do enjoy the bright yellow flowers and have decided there are some parts of the garden where I don't want them to grow so I have been trying to eradicate them for years now close to the house.

I try to keep on top of the wild grasses as some grow a metre high and are then a huge risk in the fire season. This yard is far too large for me to maintain and unfortunately my back has decided it is going to be troublesome and I can't get to a physio due to quarantining. Some exercise and stretches do help. I might have a soak in a hot bath as well.

It is raining here so not sure if I will wander through the garden later or not. At least if I get soaked I will not have far to walk to come inside and put on dry clothes!

My husband's covid test came back negative, I am still waiting for my results. Have another test tomorrow so will take some knitting, crocheting, a craft book, breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks plus a porta loo hooked up to the tow bar! Ha. Ha. about the porta loo. That is just wishful thinking.

Cheers to you all from Dools

[Guest_1055]

You can buy portable toilets like for camping and such.

Hope you don't have to wait too long tomorrow Mrs D. Good idea taking the knitting and crochet.

It's great you still walk in your garden. Still think you should put some bird noises or ocean wave sounds on your phone. Then put ear buds in or head phones and drown out all those truck noises. If you have Internet connection in your garden on your phone, you could simply listen to many of these bird noises and beach waves on your phone from ytube.

Most libraries have free music you can download onto your phone too. I forget what it is called. You can download from home.

[Guest_1055]

With much thankfulness..

I went walking out on Breakwall Path. I could feel the warmth of the sun on my skin. As I was walking along, I looked to my left. There growing amongst the rocks was a green ground cover type plant. On it was dark pink flowers. The flowers were shaped like little cups, facing towards the sun. It was such a contrast this pink against the colour of the rocks, sand and the colour of the water in the port. Beautiful.

I noticed some people kayaking in the port too. With their paddles going in and going out. A few other people were fishing off the rocks. Maybe there is a lot of fish out there today.

I walked to the end. Looked at the ocean below near Comfy Rock. I didn't sit though. Just stood and watched the movement of water crushing into the rocks.

On my way back someone was walking with a sausage dog. I really do like the look of these cute little dogs. With their low tummies. Then another person was walking with their sausage dog. The 2 dogs meet. The exchange was way cute. Do dogs recognise the same breed as themselves.

[Doolhof]

Hi Shell and all reading,

I'm going to encourage myself to have another walk around in the garden. I need to remind myself how very fortunate I am to have the opportunity to be free to walk on our property, to see the trees, the weeds, the hill in the distance, the clouds dancing around in the sky and the occasional bird.

Yes, I could try to work out how to listen to birds sounds through my phone while outside. I'm not set up for that and don't have any ear pods or ear plugs or what ever else I might need. Modern technology has left me behind. Ha. Ha.

The neighbours used to have a few cows in their yard, they have not been there for months now, I miss not seeing them. The horses in the other yard have been restricted to a small area as the people are cropping part of their paddock for hay.

Thanks for sharing your walk Shell. It is always interesting to read where you have been.

The sun is trying to shine outside so this might be my opportunity to spend some time in the garden. It is so windy out there! I will take a jacket with a hood!

Cheers to you Shell and to all reading. Hope you have a good day one way or another. From Dools

[golden82]

Hi Shelly and all,

What a wonderful story of your walk and the sausage dogs Shell. I love watching dogs interact too. I think they are much smarter than some of us believe - I think they do recognize each other and their own breed. Thanks for writing this lovely description and I hope you and all keep enjoying your walks. It is bucketing down here in Adelaide - the weather has been horrible for days it seems. Take care. Hugs from Golden 🙂

[Doolhof]

Hi Golden and All,

I managed to get out for a walk in the garden before the rains came. I wandered around the fence line and was rewarded with the neighbour's horses coming to say hello. They allowed me to pat them for a short period of time.

I walked here and there and back again! I watched the clouds racing across the sky and noticed how dark they were becoming. I admired the green of the small hill that is close to us and watched a couple of crows fly at weird angles due tot he wind.

It was a short walk, I could have continued around and around but decided to just enjoy being outside.

To all who are unable to be outside at present, I am hoping you can maintain some exercise. Regards to all from Dools

[Elizabeth CP]

Sorry I haven't written for ages. I love reading peoples descriptions of their walks etc.

Ove thing I've tried doing is going outside in the morning (not always possible in Melbourne with the rain) & do a few exercises. I've combines some normal exercises like squats and lunges with my hand exercises and deep slow breathing. Triple benefit -physical health, my hand therapy & mental health from the breathing. I try to position myself so I get the best view so I get the extra benefit. This may mean looking up at the clouds in the sky, focusing on my camellia bush in flower or something else in the garden. I shared this because it can be done even if in isolation like Dools but even if you aren't it is a good way to get fresh air and appreciate what is around us.

Today I walked to the shop in the morning. The forecast was for cold, wind & rain so I wanted to get back before the rain started so I walked fast to get there and back. By the time I got home I was really warm from the fast walk. On the way back I walked on an underpass beside the creek. I noticed the water running very fast due to recent heavy rain. As I heading down the underpass I heard bike riders behind me. They stopped I suspect concerned about riding fast down hill in case I stepped in their way. Riders usually ride down fast to get the speed to make it back up the other side. I stepped out of the way and signalled to the riders to go down. They thanked me as they whizzed past. It took a few seconds of my time but left me feeling good knowing I'd done the right thing. A win win with both the riders and myself feeling happy.