Your Newspaper - Your Health - One Step At a Time

Posted on: June 17, 2010

One Step At a Time

Author Carolyn Scott Kortge’s walking program promotes healing of the entire body

By Anna Sachse
CTW Features

Sure, consistent walking can help strengthen bones and muscles and keep expanding waistlines in check.

But in “Healing Walks for Hard Times: Quiet Your Mind, Strengthen Your Body, and Get Your Life Back,” (Shambhala, August 2010), award-winning journalist, former competitive race walker and breast cancer survivor Carolyn Scott Kortge offers an eight week program that focuses more on walking for wellness than walking for fitness. While calorie-burn is certainly a benefit of putting rubber soles to the road, the goal of this exercise guide is to teach walkers how to strengthen the mind and spirit, in addition to the body.

Here Kortge gives a sneak peek.

Who might benefit most from your program?

This program is meant to help restore momentum for anybody whose life is in a state of imbalance, whether the cause is physical or emotional. For example, this might include cancer patients, recovering alcoholics, people suffering from depression, people who have lost their jobs because of the current economy and parents who have lost a child. I interviewed one woman, who, at 575 pounds, was so obese that she could no longer leave her home. After a failed suicide attempt, she decided that God must want her to live. She started walking, in a pool at first, and has since lost 400 pounds. The goal of this book is to inspire and to be a vehicle of healing for anyone facing a life tragedy.

How does walking aid in the healing process?

There are so many ways, but one, in particular, is that it stimulates circulation, helping you to heal faster and better. This also speeds oxygen to the brain, improving energy and helping you to think more clearly. In addition, walking stimulates production of feel-good chemicals like dopamine and serotonin, and it can help lower blood pressure while boosting immune function.

How does your eight-week program work?

In a crisis, routines often fall apart. This program helps people literally take the first step and start moving forward again by establishing a daily walking plan. Each chapter has three levels – beginners can start by walking 10 minutes a day, while regular walkers can do 30 minutes. Each week presents a set of mindful walking tools, such as pairing your steps with breath awareness, visual imagery or self-talk. These techniques provide intervals of stress release, giving your body a break so that healing and recovery can begin.

What might readers be able to expect in terms of results?

After eight weeks of experimenting, it’s my hope that readers come away with a handful of mental focusing tools that they will be able to use in the future as an antidote to fear, panic and depression. You can mix and match according to what works best for you – maybe that’s meditation or prayer or simply counting your steps so that you can’t think of anything else. That’s the tool I had when I had cancer, and it’s the tool I have now.

What might be some secondary physical health benefits?

At the most elementary level, the act of walking is literally a balancing act. Consistently keeping at it helps strengthen legs, ankles and coordination, thereby improving posture and stability. Each chapter of my book actually contains a sidebar that outlines a different physical benefit, from the positive impact on muscles, joints and hearts, to improved energy and mood. Losing weight is probably not a practical expectation if you walk 10 or 20 minutes a day, although this walking may aid in weight maintenance. But if you go for at least 30 minutes a day, weight loss may occur.

Can you suggest a mini stress release walk?

Sure – I call it the five-minute “High Five” walk. First, set the intention, whether that’s walking out an overwhelming to-do list, your fears or a problem. Then, as your start walking, start saying “in” and “out” silently to yourself, in rhythm with your breath. If you prefer, you can say “in, two, three, four; out, two, three, four,” matching the cadence of your steps. Both should help deepen your breathing, fueling your body with oxygen as you inhale, and eliminating waste products as you exhale. It won’t solve your problems, of course, but it will make you better prepared to deal with them.