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]

I like reading where you all walk. It feels like a holiday in my mind. From cute baby emus to lizard tracks, kangaroos, galahs making that racket they make.

I have noticed animal tracks in the sand dunes before and wondered who left them there. Think I may draw them next time and then research to find who put them there. 

I have been walking at least every day ,often twice. I went for a walk on the breakwall this morning. This walk often has tourists. Some walked in my direction and they wore beautiful dresses made from natural fibres. They looked natural to me. I just really liked them, something that you just don't see around my area. Almost from another era.

Last night I walked at night on the coastal walk with my son. It felt so cool and breezy.

I have also been walking around our neighbourhood. And in that large park with my sister. Actually the walk around the neighbourhood brought us close to bats. Ugly bats. Sorry if anyone likes them. But I just don't. They are unique animals, with there rubber looking wings and all. But apart from that. Yikes don't like them. Scary looking creatures.

[Eagle Ray]

Dear Shell and Everyone 

That’s wonderful you are getting to walk often twice a day. Yes, natural fibre clothing is so nice isn’t it. And the night walk with your son sounds lovely. It’s a different feeling at night and I really like it, though don’t tend to do it on my own. But when I’ve had a visitor stay with me here we’ve done a river walk at night and it’s so atmospheric. The river is often glassy if it’s calm and the moon rises over it which is beautiful.

Yes, bats can definitely be scary looking. The ones who I do find cute are baby flying foxes. There’s quite a few photos of them online being bottle fed and wrapped up in little blankets. I think it’s some of the smaller bats that seem to have scarier faces.

Today I drove to a section of river a bit outside of a nearby town I hadn’t been to before. The river is quite murky at the moment and only slightly moving. There’s tall forest trees along the walk. Some of them look particularly old and have hollows high up that would be good habitat for various creatures. Their top branches are quite sparse in terms of leaves. They remind me of kindly grandparents looking after other beings in the forest.

Early on the walk I found a mass of feathers from what would have been a decent sized bird. They were quite beautiful. I wondered if it was either a juvenile or smaller bird of prey eaten by a larger bird of prey. Only just the feathers remained, with lovely brown and cream markings and some fluffy grey.

 I met quite a few friendly mountain bikers along the trail. It’s fairly dry at the moment, but I could see parts of the trail that would be quite sloshy with mud in the winter. In one section you could see where the mud had dried into cracked earth. There were robins and fantails about. The fantails are always very bold and come up to a nearby branch to take a look at you.

It was a peaceful walk with lovely weather.

[Doolhof]

Hi Shell, Eagle Ray and all reading,

It is wonderful we can share our walking and other exercise experiences here for all to read. I agree with you Shell, just reading about people's walks is like taking a little holiday. Years ago I used to use a meditation where you envisioned a calm and relaxing place in your mind. I struggle a little to do that these days, maybe I can try again and see what happens.

Yesterday I went for a short drive in the car on a dirt road so I could walk along a less used dirt road. There are road works up and down the highway at present so you need to add an extra 15 minutes to get anywhere due to delays.

The old dirt road had dry, dusty paddocks on either side, with small undulating mounds, not quite hills. There was the remnants of an ancient looking water course filled with dead scotch thistle plants.

Squat gum trees lined the road, there were a few magpies warbling away, I sat for a while to listen to them. In the area where there were no trees, the sun warmer me through, the breeze was cool.

It was nice to walk somewhere different. 

[Doolhof]

HI Everyone,

This morning I saw some kangaroos in a paddock, I stood to watch as they bounded away, such power and strength. A gum tree with many dead branches hosted a flock of black birds and a few magpies. The sky was grey and there was a short burst of sunshine that helped to illuminate part of a double rainbow. 

[Eagle Ray]

Dear Dools and Everyone 

Really nice to hear of your walk in a new area yesterday. And the walk this morning sounds lovely too, especially the sun illuminating the double rainbow. Yesterday morning I was driving to a nearby town and there was a sun shower. The rainbow to my left seemed so close I felt I could reach out and touch it. I had to make sure I stayed concentrated on the road!

Today my walk has taken me along the river and estuary. A fisherman cleaning fish has an audience of many pelicans as if he is putting on a show. The breeze is cool coming up the river. I’m sitting on a bench in a secluded spot hearing the sound of small waves washing ashore. I’ve just watched a very large stingray swim past. A fisherman has pulled up in a dinghy nearby to try his luck at that spot. I can feel the seasons changing.

[Guest_1055]

Hi

I had a vision of old thick tall trees Eagle Ray, with hollowed out bits in the branches. In my imagination there was water in those hollowed out bits? Like little pools. My dad use to fish a lot so on holidays we always ate fresh fish. And don't pelicans have such cute beaks or pouches or whatever they are called. You sounded so content in your description of your walk. Nice and calm. Thankyou for sharing it. 

Rainbows are so beautiful Mrs D and I had images in my thoughts of large kangaroos bounding along with dust in the air. I could almost heard a thudding sound.

These evening I walked with my sister in that historical town. The one with the cobbled stones out the front of many stores. We parked down near the river, when walking up the road which is a bit hilly we saw banana trees. It was hard to tell how many as they were growing so close together. Then we saw bunches and more bunches of tiny green bananas, in amongst those large leaves. Didn't think bananas grew around our area. Next to them was a mulberry tree. Yum I love mulberries.  We walked along chatting for a while. I noticed a frangipani in someone's front yard with some of its sweet smelling flowers scattered on the ground. When we walked past one of the many pubs in this town, a medium sized dog was standing in such a way as if to say I am tough. It was a dog that had big muscles. Funny in a way? We walked until we got to this old bathtub made into a seat. Sat there and chatted. Then echoing bell noises rung out through the air. It was so very very beautiful. Old fashioned bell ringing? It was a gentle ring and we found out is was coming from the old church. Sounds seem to echo in this town. Once we walked back down to our cars, we heard a loud voice coming from the river. We walked closer to the river, looked down it . We saw lights, then it came closer to us revealing a large and long rowing boat. Many people were rowing up and down with the oars.There was a man shouting out directions.

[Eagle Ray]

Dear Shell

There could well be water in the hollowed out bits of tree. I saw a documentary that showed the tree-hole frog that lives in water in tree hollows. It has developed the ability to adjust its call to a frequency that resonates in the hole based on the amount of water in it. So a very acoustically aware frog!

I loved reading about your walk in the historical town. It’s so interesting to see the bananas. It’s amazing all the small things you notice on foot that can be easy to miss in a car. The bathtub made into a seat sounds quirky and interesting too. And lovely to hear the bell ringing. It sounds like a town with character. I love the smell of frangipanis and really like mulberries too! It sounds like it was a walk for all the senses!

 I haven’t been on my walk yet today which will happen shortly. I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed reading about yours.

[Eagle Ray]

My walk today went through a woodland area at the beginning, then a forest area with taller trees and damper undergrowth. The trees looked lovely in the late afternoon light. I then came to the estuary where many kite surfers were zooming about, some of them getting seriously airborne. It’s strange seeing a human kind of floating/flying so high through the air. On my way home along the river I saw two swans battling to fly into the wind. They then tried swimming instead against the current. But that looked like hard work too as they strained their necks into the wind. I wondered where they were headed, making such an effort.

The first part of my walk was solitary and the second half involved lots of tourists enjoying the estuary. It was nice seeing a dad with his kid and dog on a kayak. Kids were riding their bikes around and families were enjoying being by the river. It was interesting seeing all the different kinds of tents in the caravan park, from simple to fancy. One had its own fold out cooking facilities built in. It’s so nice to see people relaxing and enjoying their holiday.

[Doolhof]

Hi Shell, Eagle Ray and All,

If you are reading, and you would like to share your walks or other exercise ideas, please know you are more than welcome to do so here. 

It is lovely to read of your walks, so many images to conjure up in my mind from your descriptions. How lovely to walk around old towns, to imagine the inhabitants past and present, to hear all the different sounds and maybe wonder where that bath tub came from!

Woodlands and forests are amazing places to go walking in, being near the sea is special also. Seeing what other people are up to can be entertaining and inspirational. I like your explanation about the tree hollow from Eagle Ray.

I had some wonderful walks over the weekend. I was staying with family in a hilly area which seems to be filled with nature reserves and plenty of scrub land to go walking in. 

One walk was in an amazing conservation park filled with plants of all kinds. We wandered down into a ravine and back up again the other side of the valley to walk on ridge tops. The trees in the valley were tall while the ones on the ridges were short and stumpy.

In one place it must have been generally damp as we saw a delightful patch of maiden hair fern. There were so many plants I don't know the name of, each area seemed to have something different for us to see.

This morning I will be back to my normal walk along the road ways with cars whizzing past, trying to appreciate nature around me! I am thankful I can go walking here. At least I know I can return to that other area and places like it for walks another day!

[Guest_1055]

Yeah Mrs D you could return to that beautiful sounding place with the valley and the ridge. And with the maiden hair fern. Think they grow well in bathrooms don't they? There is something about walking in an area that is new to you or you haven't walked there much. Change of scenery maybe, different feel about it.