My healing journey inspired by the book Healing Walks for Hard Times by Carolyn Scott Kortge
Marvelous Monday. My husband doesn’t go back to the factory until tomorrow, so we feel happy to have this extra day of the New Years holiday.
I lay in bed last night finishing the Week One section of Healing Walks, and realized that apparently I was supposed to complete this section before I started my first walk. Kortge goes more in depth about how exercise and meditation techniques help us to heal. She offers focusing strategies, encourages gratefulness, and gives more detail about keeping the daily log. It’s a lot to absorb.
Pillow Talk. I close to the book and confide to my husband that maybe I don’t see this happening.
+
“Don’t see what happening?” he asks.
“Me losing weight.” I’m wistful because I know in my heart that he is a big part of why I am making this effort. He deserves a fit and trim wife.
“Is that the only reason you are doing this?” (I’m impressed. He actually gets it. Who says men are shallow? )
“No, of course not. I am enjoying the whole project. It just seems that it would have to be stepped up so dramatically to actually make a difference in my weight. “
“Well, “ he says, “there are other ways to burn calories.”
“Like?”
“Sweeping, mopping, hanging laundry out to dry. You know, stuff like that.” My man, so practical…a rock, really.
Saying Thank You: I am intrigued by how many instructional insights in the book occur naturally as I walk, but am so grateful for the printed guidance that gives words to what I am experiencing. It helps me to focus and to recognize and squelch negative aspects before they become habits like weeds in the path of my healing walks. Kortge suggests using the time toward the end of my walk to mentally say thank you for all of the cooperative pieces that made the walk possible. Without consciously remembering this, toward the end of my walk, I suddenly was overcome with thankfulness for my legs. From a worldly beauty perspective, my legs do not have it going on, so to speak. However, today, I saw the beauty in their dutiful ability to march along, oblivious to the cold wind penetrating my gym pants. With this new perspective, I now have a new definition of “great legs.” I chanted part of a hymn, “Fear not I am with thee, peace be still” over and over. I considered the omnipresence of God and His presence on this walk with me. There aren’t words to describe how that feels.
This morning, I started Ken’s coffee, ran a sink full of soapy water for the dirty dishes that magically appeared overnight, and scooted out the door optimistic about my walk. The ground was covered in white frost. The puddles were iced over. I walked 38 minutes bundled in my coat and gloves. I came home rejuvenated. That feels good.
Showing posts with label walking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label walking. Show all posts
Monday, January 3, 2011
DAY THREE December 31, 2010
DAY THREE December 31, 2010
My healing journey inspired by the book Healing Walks for Hard Times by Carolyn Scott Kortge
We don’t have internet out in the sticks where I live, so even though I am keeping track of things on my home computer daily, I will only be able to update when I am in town. If you are kind enough to follow my daily progress, don’t worry, I won’t skip any days of recording. It makes me very happy to think someone might enjoy reading about my journey.
The book is full of wonderful information and insight, and I am in no way summarizing it properly, or doing it justice. I am finding it to be a much needed guide on my healing journey. I started with page 18 this morning.
A Healthy Step: I read the account of Nola Woodbury, and considered my own situation and the situations of different people I know. I loved that she and I both found inspiration from hymns as we walked. I hope that I too will use this time to reassess and make some good life changes. I definitely feel open to something new, while still holding on to things I hold dear.
I agree with Kortge that it must be common for us to sometimes feel betrayed by our body due to age or illness or some other taxing circumstance. I think of my mother who has emphysema. She has good days and bad days, and just walking to the mailbox or bringing in the groceries can be a challenge. I want to encourage her to walk to, to reclaim some of her strength and stamina. I just want for her to feel better. It seems we are all recovering from something.
Cellular Alchemy: Kortge writes that an unfocused mind can be like a loose cannon and encourages us to focus our mind away from stressful thoughts. She really nailed me there. Unhindered, my mind can focus on three or four separate issues at once, all of them stressful. It is almost guilty pleasure for me not to think about my husband or children on my walks. I also “meditate” away from finances and other pressing responsibilities. The second I return home, my family is going to bombard me with questions about breakfast or schedules or where some misplaced item can be found. Until then, my walk is my time.
Speaking of time, I increased mine today to 33 minutes by walking more along the outer edge of the track and parking farther away from it. Again, I am not pushing myself or over doing it. I think the very nature of a healing process is to go easy, isn’t it? The track is so close to my home that I envision myself walking that extra distance too eventually, but not today! It was a nice day for a walk…the warmest day yet. I will definitely give up the coat for a sweatshirt if the temperature is like this tomorrow. I walked in solitude today, but am thinking the park will fill up a little more next week when people begin exercising their New Years resolutions. I watched squirrels and crows play chase together. I loved how the early morning sky striped gray and yellow over our mountain on the horizon. An upbeat hymn played in my mind, “At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light, and the burden of my heart rolled away…” I love that I never have to search for a song. I think the Holy Spirit provides one for me.
My healing journey inspired by the book Healing Walks for Hard Times by Carolyn Scott Kortge
We don’t have internet out in the sticks where I live, so even though I am keeping track of things on my home computer daily, I will only be able to update when I am in town. If you are kind enough to follow my daily progress, don’t worry, I won’t skip any days of recording. It makes me very happy to think someone might enjoy reading about my journey.
The book is full of wonderful information and insight, and I am in no way summarizing it properly, or doing it justice. I am finding it to be a much needed guide on my healing journey. I started with page 18 this morning.
A Healthy Step: I read the account of Nola Woodbury, and considered my own situation and the situations of different people I know. I loved that she and I both found inspiration from hymns as we walked. I hope that I too will use this time to reassess and make some good life changes. I definitely feel open to something new, while still holding on to things I hold dear.
I agree with Kortge that it must be common for us to sometimes feel betrayed by our body due to age or illness or some other taxing circumstance. I think of my mother who has emphysema. She has good days and bad days, and just walking to the mailbox or bringing in the groceries can be a challenge. I want to encourage her to walk to, to reclaim some of her strength and stamina. I just want for her to feel better. It seems we are all recovering from something.
Cellular Alchemy: Kortge writes that an unfocused mind can be like a loose cannon and encourages us to focus our mind away from stressful thoughts. She really nailed me there. Unhindered, my mind can focus on three or four separate issues at once, all of them stressful. It is almost guilty pleasure for me not to think about my husband or children on my walks. I also “meditate” away from finances and other pressing responsibilities. The second I return home, my family is going to bombard me with questions about breakfast or schedules or where some misplaced item can be found. Until then, my walk is my time.
Speaking of time, I increased mine today to 33 minutes by walking more along the outer edge of the track and parking farther away from it. Again, I am not pushing myself or over doing it. I think the very nature of a healing process is to go easy, isn’t it? The track is so close to my home that I envision myself walking that extra distance too eventually, but not today! It was a nice day for a walk…the warmest day yet. I will definitely give up the coat for a sweatshirt if the temperature is like this tomorrow. I walked in solitude today, but am thinking the park will fill up a little more next week when people begin exercising their New Years resolutions. I watched squirrels and crows play chase together. I loved how the early morning sky striped gray and yellow over our mountain on the horizon. An upbeat hymn played in my mind, “At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light, and the burden of my heart rolled away…” I love that I never have to search for a song. I think the Holy Spirit provides one for me.
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