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Fast Walking & Breathing

Margaret Kruszewska

Fast WalkingThe weather has been perfect for long fast-walking, I mean like 4-5 miles in less than an hour!

Although I’ve never been a jogger, I can outwalk most of my runner friends. Even before my years of doing standing warrior poses, I always had amazingly strong legs. And, I’ve been feeling a need to build endurance into my physical movements and this is by far the most beautiful way to do it -as I go up and down these marvelous hills in the Bay area.

Although I did participate in track and field as a teenager, I was never very strong and, looking back, part of what was missing was any awareness of how to work with my breath. Yoga taught me this much later. It’s not even any specific breathing technique, although knowing a simple thing like breathing through the nostrils instead of through the mouth helps.

Besides creating more stamina, this awareness of breath also connects you to your surroundings. As I glided through the streets at sunset I was participating in all the scents of the neighborhood: jasmine, eucalyptus, rosemary, lilies, lavender, dinner being served, animals sweating, lawns being watered, the wind, the moisture, the dryness of the leaves.

3 Responses to “Fast Walking & Breathing”

  1. Vicki Noble says:

    Dear Margaret,
    This is lovely, a wonderful idea and an accomplishment, congratulations! (the whole website, I mean.) And I love the fast walking–I just got back from my own morning fast walk, but I’m lazy and don’t go as far as you’re talking about, so you’ve inspired me to greater accomplishments in the coming mornings. Thanks. I wish we could walk together now and then, but I’ll think of you out there striding along over those Oakland hills, and you can think of me down here in the Aptos forest and breaking out into the open spaces of a meadow where I sometimes even take a little short (5 minutes) jog.
    Much love to you, Vicki

  2. Basia says:

    I can vouch for that fast walking bit, remembering trying to keep up with you on the streets of Manhattan…

  3. violetnoir says:

    Hello, darling Margaret!

    It was so good to receive your email about this lovely blog!

    I started fast walking again recently with my Daisy Mae. It’s a bit difficult for my little miniature poodle to keep up, but she’s a real champ!

    I love walking around the hills of Eagle Rock and taking in the evening sights, smells and sounds, too. Plus, I find walking is a great way to get back into “fighting form” if I’m feeling sluggish and a little lumpy.

    Combined with my yoga practice, which I have kept up on my own, fast-walking helps me stay fit and lean.

    Hugs! I miss you.

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