Dr. Cindy Ryan is on vacation. This column ran in July 2005, and is one of the editor’s favorites.
Health experts say we should exercise for physical reasons. They seem unified on this — which is amazing, really, considering all the other conflicting information coming to us about our bodies, medications and different approaches to wellness.
Psychologists and psychiatrists and other mental health professionals seem to agree as well on the benefits of physical exercise to help stabilize our moods, lift depression, stave off anxiety and even in healing the pain of grief.
But, did you ever consider physical exercise as something healthy for your soul?
One of my favorite authors, Julia Cameron, writes in her book The Vein of Gold, "Although it has fallen into disuse in our hurried times, walking may be the most powerful spiritual practice known to humans."
St. Augustine put it this way: "Solvitur ambulando: It is solved by walking."
Cameron writes, "Walking opens us up. It feeds us. Image by image, it spoons up for us a broth or soup of soul food … in other words, we can walk our way out of 'problem’ and into 'solution.’"
Recently our family stayed at our friends’ lake house for several days. The house is near a quiet lake with a great view and awesome walking possibilities all around. To counter all the great vacation food we were eating, I vowed to walk one hour every day. In contrast, when I’m home, I usually work out indoors at a local fitness center.
Something happened as I walked in the real outdoors those days.
The more I walked, the more "in tune" I became to what was around me: redbirds, bluebirds, little yellow finches, rabbits, squirrels, tiny snakes, mice and even some deer — a doe and two spotted fawns.
The more I walked, the more I felt closer to the earth and appreciated the small things like a cool breeze now and then, or a patch of shaded woods, even a small rainstorm or two.
My mind cleared and mulled things over with each step. New ideas and inspirations came to me [including the idea for this article].
Soren Kierkegaard, philosopher and theologian, said it well: Above all, do not lose your desire to walk: every day I walk myself into a state of wellbeing and walk away from every illness; I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it... . But by sitting still, and the more one sits still, the closer one comes to feeling ill… . Thus, if one just keeps walking, everything will be all right."
Hmm … maybe you should do it for your physical health. Or, perhaps your mental health needs to go for a walk. Or maybe, just maybe, it is your soul that needs to go walking.
Can you imagine anything as affordable, simple and basic as a good, long, outside walk?
One step at a time … your soles and your soul will thank you.