A timely post. I had a lovely long stroll by the river Severn this afternoon. I tend to walk a lot by water, be it the river or canal here.

As you say, solitary walking is the way to go. No iPods allowed. Or cellphones.

Just finished a walk on Mt Tam, down through Muir Woods. Redwoods and streams, lots of up and down.
I need to do this daily to stay sane.

He missed one good way to "get one's attention out", and enforce the discipline of daily walks: get a dog.

"Dogs Better Exercise Companions Than Humans

The University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine Research Center for Human-Animal Interaction (ReCHAI) finds dogs do a better job of getting older adults out for exercise.

ReCHAI sponsors several projects that attempt to further the understanding and value of the relationship between humans and animals. In 2008, ReCHAI sponsored the “Walk a Hound, Lose a Pound and Stay Fit for Seniors.” In the preliminary program, a group of older adults were matched with shelter dogs, while another group of older adults were partnered with a human walk buddy. For 12 weeks, participants were encouraged to walk on an outdoor trail for one hour, five times a week. At the end of the program, researchers measured how much the older adults’ activity levels improved.

“The older people who walked their dogs improved their walking capabilities by 28 percent,” Johnson said. “They had more confidence walking on the trail, and they increased their speed. The older people who walked with humans only had a 4 percent increase in their walking capabilities. The human walking buddies tended to discourage each other and used excuses such as the weather being too hot.”

This bit about humans discouraging each other contrasts with my own experience with dog walking. They are not interested in excuses. They want to go galloping up the road. They think exercise is just plain great. A good dog is a great professional trainer."

http://www.futurepundit.com/archives/006580.html

There are a lot of different ways to handle the angst that may arise from confronting the future. Walking is one of them but I don't think it's a very good one because it doesn't have a lasting effect, much like meditation.

In my view, for a person to have a lasting sense of peace they must fundamentally alter their view of the future. If the future they are living into before the walk is that all will come crashing down and the future they are living into after the walk is still that all will come crashing down, no lasting peace will occur and they will find themselves on the trail again the next day.

It's for this same reason that "positive thinking" doesn't work. All one gets is a very nervous person thinking positive thoughts while in the background the context that they view the world hasn't fundamentally altered i.e. they still don't have a very good future in front of them.

Said more rigorously, a person must alter the context in which they view the world. First they must fully and deeply see the current context. Then they create a new context that provides meaning they hold as important.

That's why the Transition Initiative is so valuable. If a person starts with the future (context) of "Mad Max" but through some internal work they begin to see "a community of thriving individuals supporting each other," that will provide more peace than 100 ten-mile walks.

For more, see "Creating a Post-Peak Future Worth Living Into."

If people want to walk, that's great. It's good exercise and as a treehugger I love communing with nature, too, especially in forests. But there are (again, in my view) more effective ways to bring oneself lasting peace.

The arrival of the Peak Phase of oil production has given me the opportunity to evolve in mysterious ways.

Since I no longer have to sit in the cockpit for long hours I enjoy it more when I fly because I choose to.

Since I no longer commute by aircraft from state to state, I found that I didn't need multiple ICE vehicles in each state either, so I sold them and choose to spend more time walking and enjoying the schedule freedom of self-employment.

I learned how to adjust my work duties so I can maintain my preference to do 5 hour aerobic exercise evolutions 3 to 5 days a week so I can achieve and maintain the athletic performance levels I couldn't when I was commuting all the time and sitting in cars, cockpits and airports.

I've learned that I have better exercise recovery and I am not so sore from working out if I do long warm-ups and warm-downs that I never had the patience for before when I was commuting all the time. I sleep better when I exercise hard and then walk it off.

I spent some time a few years ago setting goals for my self employment and figuring out what tasks I could do effectively in the home office and which I could do while walking around and purposely arranged to turn the phone off during my extreme exercise so I could have the satisfaction of knowing that I had done my best on my workout and the silly cellphone was not allowed to interrupt my health goals. Some stuff I have to do while sitting at the computer but now I do most of my email management while walking around and I don't let my back and body get stiff like it used to when I had to wrestle emails and files in the office chair everyday.

It is a subtle difference that I didn't notice for a couple of years, but now I can recognize that I have learned how to just relax and "engage" in the environment through a part of each of my walks. I prefer to listen to intense music when pushing the aerobic limits during the "training" part of my fitness evolutions but I switch to more soothing vibrations when I am warming down and most importantly I turn everything off and absorb the natural sounds for a while on each walk.

Some days the stress from thinking about solutions to Peak Oil sort of creeps up on me and I forget that I need to get out and walk. That is the danger of self-employment, it is easy to convince myself that I need to keep working and I can walk or exercise later. I sort of solved this problem just by setting alarms on my calendar program that prod me and get me out walking before too many hours of concentrated slavery go by.

Most of all, I get a great sense of gratitude when I am walking because I am very well aware that many people are not as fortunate and are still stuck commuting. When I walk in the rain forest I feel grateful for the peace and solitude but I often don't recognize I have accumulated that peace and solitude until I walk back to "civilization" and I see a distracted driver sending a text message blow through the crosswalk without looking. I know one person who was riding his bike and was killed last year by a texting driver and another one I didn't know was killed crossing the same intersection I cross many times a month when I am in that state. Instead of getting angry and resentful about these clueless, dangerous motorists, I choose to use those moments as reminders of how grateful I am that I am fortunate to have the freedom to walk much more than I ever would have thought I would want to.

I remember reading about Kant walking around Konigsberg (Kaliningrad) for hours and hours and when I was younger and much less patient I just couldn't understand and identify with that. Now I have survived long enough to comprehend some of the pleasure Kant must have gotten from those long walks that presumably contributed to his philosophical works. Sometimes while walking I find that I can concentrate and press forward on solutions that I couldn't create trapped in the office and sometimes I just walk and relax and recuperate so when I go back to the office I am refreshed.

We walk around our beautiful local river (in Melbourne) for about 90 minutes each morning - from dawn onwards, so the time varies with the season. It is a highly developed urban environment, but there is still a lot of "nature" out there, including impressive levels of bird-life ... and I love watching it all change and mesh together over time.

However we both listen to radio - intelligent, thoughtful, relaxed (commercial-free) public radio - news, current affairs, documentary and lifestyle programs. This does not inhibit my ability to be very observant of the world about me, and quite often a news item will trigger off an intense period of thinking about some aspect of life.

We are close to retiring, and therefore also close to moving from Melbourne to a warm northern beach area ... and one of our main requirements (after having all services within walking distance so we do not have to have a vehicle) was the quality of the walks in the region, and this beach area has those in spades - along the beach itself, around the river, and through the rainforest hinterland.

Walking is wonderful, and while I share some of the scepticism noted above about its actual usefulness in peak-oil transition and preparedness, I think it is invaluable in terms of bringing one's neighbourhood down to the pedestrian scale, and therefore brings into sharper focus those essential changes our towns and cities will have to make when car journeys for basic living will be unaffordable, and hopefully, seen as something antisocial.

I spent about 16 years working in various places far from my home, or at least far enough to have to rent a place to live during the week and commute home on the weekends. In each place I lived, I spent some time on my bicycle getting the lay of the land, in a manner of speaking. I would get to know the neighborhood and places that I needed to go to for groceries, and in some cases, chatted with neighbors.

I think this sort of connecting to the local environment, whether on foot or on bicycle is a good way to maintain a fresh and positive attitude. I also learned pretty quickly the places that I'd rather be living, even though I almost always found something to value in each place I lived.

Edit: One time, on my bicycle, waiting for traffic to clear on a cross street, there was a young black kid, maybe 12-13 years old on his bike. Walking down the sidewalk toward us was a man who had the homeless look about him. Scruffy unkempt beard, vacant look, scruffy clothes. When he got to the intersection, the black kid put down his bike and went over to the homeless guy and handed him a dollar bill, completely out of the blue. The homeless guy was overwhelmed and thanked the kid profusely.

This kind of life vignette one simply won't see from the shell of an automobile.

I'll toss in a twist that I've been really impressed with lately.

My daughter is six, and if she can forget for a second or two that she is feeling 'TOO TIRED' to walk.. as she and I walk her to and from school every day, then we'll almost invariably end up skipping or galloping there, or immersed in some other form of lively, physical play.

If you haven't skipped/galloped uphill for two or three continuous blocks lately, don't knock it. It's truly aerobic, AND it's silly and completely in the moment. Beyond my middle-aged, PO-Aware ennui, it seems to be helping my 'core strength' as well.

We also had a neighborhood cleanup today, and Lorelei and I went and picked up yucky, post-winter trash for an hour or so.. walking, observing, caretaking, carrying.. doing hopeful stuff for our neighbors 'just because'..

What's REALLY going to be fun with her is building my dad's 'Pine Handlaunch Glider designs' with her and going out into a field and chasing those puppies around!

.. maybe they'll do a study on its benefits, but I won't need to read it. I'll be outside measuring it Heuristically.

But thanks Gail for another great topic! Truly Appreciated.

Bob

i think walking is not the 'key'; it is being out in nature, & getting exercise that improves our ability to cope.

i used to do 1-2 week wilderness trips. i found that it took me about 3 days out to reach a different mindset. no billboards, motors[occasionally view a plane trail], etc. Focus became immediate needs, & enjoying nature; smells, sounds, breezes, sun, etc. relaxes me to remember/think about it. we aren't hardwired for lots of what we experience.

repetitive mundane tasks, carrying water, walking, shelling beans, peeling apples, washing dishes, knitting, paddling, swimming, etc. allow us to relax/meditate as we exercise & accomplish tasks. there used to be lots of these, almost constantly in our lives. when not done hurriedly or in a strained manner i think these activities are soothing to most of us.

of course we will eventually be forced by PO to do these 'peasant lifestyle' type of things--drudgery, or worse we worry. probably will be when done with a mindset of wishing for something else, or alone, or over worked; especially if worried/scared about food, security etc.

hopefully i/we'll be lucky as decline hits. somewhat bored[coming down from our electronic marvels' stimulation] having/getting to do these menial tasks [i'm choosing to do them more], but in good company as we do our best; like andre[aangel] says to 'make our future'.

I walk a lot but I generally don't find it very soothing. Maybe I should try it without listening to Jason Bradford interviewing Jay Hanson. Have listened to that interview many times and get something new from it each time.

Just finished John Michael Greer's audiobook The Ecotechnic Future. Now that's depressing on a walk... (but a brilliant book).

I'm seeing this environmental fatigue on two levels. The first is amongst the other students on my environmental studies course. People who began the course upbeat, and with a positive attitude that things could be done, are being worn down by the constant inflow of bad statistics when it comes to rates of resource use and waste generated. The second is amongst the transition towners who after watching the film 'Home' almost to a man expressed their depression over the situation. One even said she didnt want to watch films like that and wanted to see more constructive films about gardening.

I live with a girlfriend who has ADHD and a son who has ADHD and PDD NOS. Last year a report came out over the calming benifits of natural environments for ADHDers. Luckily we already live in a very natural environment. Living in the last houseboat on this section of the canal means that after walking out of our mooringspot gate we walk straight into nature along the canal path. It gives the feeling that this is just an extension of our garden and therefore we have a good connection with our surroundings. I often wonder what my boys behaviour would be like if we lived in an inner city council flat like I used to live in on the Isle of Dogs, London. He is a handful now, so in an urban environment would probably be a nightmare to live with.

Our cities transition towns movement has only this year begun to organize. I have proposed the first project which is a short bike ride once a month for a couple of hours identifying edible, medicinal and other useful plants. Concidering the above paper this could then have a double benifit of both providing some resilience for the community in the form useful suppliments and also alieviate the stress of facing up to environmental problems perceived now and in the future.

I have been commuting to and from work on foot for almost two years now. It is really more of a short hike than a walk, 1.7 miles each way. Observations from my experience:

- It has definitely improved my health. Building this exercise into my daily routine was the best way to assure that I actually did get exercise, which was one reason why I started doing this.

- It has had benefits for my mental, emotional, and even spiritual health as well, along the lines that the author suggests. It is a good thing to be able to clear the mind before and after work, and I do often use the time to meditate. While my route is not ideal for this - I am walking alongside streets, although not super busy ones - there is still plenty of fresh air, sunshine, and connection with the natural world. Note: I do not have some electronic gizmo plugged into my ears, and rarely use the cell phone during my walks. You could cross off all of the above if I did.

- I have found my daily walks to also be conducive to community- building. I know several people along my route, and have made acquaintance with several more over the past couple of years. I often exchange greetings with people and sometimes stop to talk for a minute. Needless to say, this sort of thing is totally impossible in any type of motorized vehicle, and is not even commonly done much on a bicycle.

- Walking to work has even increased my value to my employer a bit. They know that no matter what the weather or circumstances, I'll be able to make it in to work. Even if trees are down blocking the road, even if there is no fuel at any of the service stations, I'll be there.

- It obviously saves on my fuel consumption and on the wear and tear to the car. To be fair, at 1.7 miles each way this doesn't amount to a lot. Yet, every little bit helps - me, the nation, and the planet.

Recommendations:

- Obviously, walking to work is only feasible for those within reasonable walking distance. As it is, I am probably at the outer limit of what most people would consider reasonable. Nevertheless, I think it would be a very good idea if most people would try to make every possible effort to co-locate their homes and workplaces as close together as possible. A long-term commitment to walk to work, and to thus live within walking distance to work, also runs counter to the idea of changing jobs every few years. To my way of thinking, having a job that is stable and secure, and that enables you to walk to work for years to come, is worth a lot. I'm not sure there is any amount of money that anyone might reasonably offer me that would convince me to switch to a job where I must commute by car.

- My routine is that I dress for a hike, and carry my work clothes in a daypack. I then change when I get to work. It is more comfortable hiking that way, and is more comfortable for both myself and my co-workers for me to be in clean, dry office-appropriate clothes. I also pack in my lunch, because there is no food service nearby. If I'm not wearing it, a rain parka goes in the pack as well.

- Safety is important. My rain parka is bright yellow, and is worn unless it is warm and sunny out. There is a reflective stripe on my backpack (which is colored red), and on the strap of my backpack (and thus facing traffic) is one of those red clip-on flashers that they sell in bike shops. I am constantly aware of my surroundings, and look all ways before steping out into the street. Situational awareness is a big reason why I strongly recommend against having electronic gizmos plugged into your ears - you need to hear what is coming up behind you!

- I speak softly, but I carry a big stick. Many people do not appreciate the many uses and values of a good hiking staff. When you are carrying a pack, your center of gravity is higher than usual, which means that you may be more prone to lose your ballance and fall than you would suspect. A staff becomes a "third leg", and thus effectively makes you a tripod, thus giving you a lot more balance. A hiking staff can be very useful when going up or down hill, or hiking along an incline, or crossing a ditch or mud puddle. A hiking staff can also be valuable for self protection if confronted by a dog, or even another person. I don't live in a high crime area, so I don't need to worry about personal security very much. However, I suspect that even if some potential perps were about, seeing someone with a big stick in their hand might give them a bit of a pause, at least.

- Obviously, you need good walking shoes or hiking boots. Don't skimp on these.

I do a fair amount of "transportation walking" (enough to exhaust EU visitors), going to the stores, restaurants, French Quarter Fest (streetcar + Walking) this weekend and relatively little exploration walking and virtually no recreational walking on a set route (a la Darwin above).

Still I find it invigorating mentally and physically. The planted landscape, the built environment and even the weeds are all equally engaging. I welcome the social interactions as part and parcel of my walking and would actively avoid isolated walks in nature alone (quite frankly, these bore me). I simply prefer my urban landscape (mainly in the Lower Garden District, also French Quarter and several other neighborhoods) to possible alternatives.

I think that I display enough mental vitality and this sort of walking suits me.

Different Strokes for Different Folks,

Alan

I think walks are fine, but not as a substitute for action. I think preps are more satisfying than walks. The more I do preps the more cognizant I am of the glacial pace of individual action. Preps are like building the great wall of china brick by brick with only one person. We live in a world that offers instant gratification in all things and preps are the antithesis to this. Preps are things that one can really be proud of because of the huge time investment. And since preps are never truly done, it always gives you a goal to work on in the future.

I am unable to walk/exercise most of the time unless I have something to listen to. Something musically upbeat, or something funny and casual. Comedy routines are great, I recommend George Carlin, and Marc Maron's WTF podcast.

Considering that most humans throughout our evolutionary history transported themselves exclusively (or nearly so) through walking, we should keep in mind that walking connects us to something deeply natural for us, I might even use the word blessed. A day when I spend no time in a car or other fossil-fuel burning machine is a day I consider blessed.

From the title, I expected a more metaphorical article. I think starting to live as a society in a sustainable way will be similar to someones whose leg muscles have severely atrophied from disuse learning anew how to walk. What should come automatically will require careful and purposeful self instruction, with many stumbles along the way. But ultimately, the new way to live will seem as natural and fitting as walking is to most able humans.

Also walking gives you a chance away from family time! Too much time spent with family can bring arguments and bickering. I have a dog (a little Yorkie) just so I have the perfect excuse to leave everyone and get away by myself for a breath of fresh air! This clears the brain and gives everyone a rest....Actually I far prefer cats (we have some of those too) to dogs and the Yorkie has a silly doginality. His job duties are forcing me to walk him no matter what the weather and playing with children. He`s very useful for someone who weighs only 2.5kg!

Maybe walking increases blood flow to the brain? Many times I notice its cognitive benefits....I come up with ideas I use later at work, for example.

I wish we lived with more nature...it`s rather minimal here, but it exists in a few small parks. There are too many cement buildings and cars and of course I love to go out and conduct unscientific and off-the-cuff peak-oil related "surveys" of traffic (as I`m walking the dog).

Take a walk through the forest after eating some homegrown mushrooms. That will give you more than 50 yearsworth of walking.

I walk daily, sometimes more than other times and my walk is stunningly beautiful along the northern California coast in northern Sonoma County. But even when I lived in less sublime locales I benefited greatly from walking and always found some part of nature to appreciate.

But I also run and find that to be at least as beneficial as meditation, maybe more so. But then my running is often explicitly a form of meditation through focusing on my breaths through breath counting.

While walking and running enhance my appreciation and love for nature, they don't do much to lessen my anxiety about the future of the planet. They might even enhance my anxiety since I am fairly attuned to the changes in nature that have occurred over the last few decades. I feel and see the effects of global warming directly and I cannot hide from that reality.

No doubt, the vast majority of people are divorced from nature as they are buried in their ipods, computers, TVs, and jobs. Children, especially, have changed radically in their propensity to get outdoors and just play or otherwise appreciate their environment. I think we are headed over the cliff with almost a complete lack of awareness and concern for consequences.

Drinking heavily works fairly well for a time if one wishes to divorce oneself from reality. But I would not recommend it because of its other consequences, including making reality all the more painful later.

Fishing can also offer a good opportunity for relaxation.

Moving to central Michigan for grad school, it took me a while to adjust to the flatness of the land and lack of old-growth forest. But stream fishing seems to provide me with the "restorative effect even in a setting with only modest natural features."

I suppose fishing could be thought of as an Environmental Engagement Plan of sorts, as it definitely affects how I engage in and interact with my physical surroundings.

Hello.

Came across your blog today and thought your traders may have an interest in our latest analysis on crude oil pries and the Energy Sector.

http://asburyresearch.blogspot.com/2010/04/more-energysector-research-as...

Best,

John Kosar, CMT
Asbury Research LLC

Meditation also has been suggested as an activity that may restore the capacity to direct attention

There is also a rabbithole to go down of neural-linquistic programming. No idea if it works - to me it sounds like hockum - but some may find it effective.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuro-linguistic_programming

Just came back froma three mile walk. It was nice and relaxing. I did do allot of deep thinking on that walk but, it was in a Los Angeles suburb.....

oh well..., can't win 'em all.

A walk in my garden each evening --even weed-infested garden--, yes with a glass of wine, is all that keeps me sane some days.

"In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous." --Aristotle

"Kiss of the sun for pardon. Song of the birds for mirth. You're closer to God's heart in a garden than any place else on earth." -- Dorothy Frances Gurney

My mother, a centenarian, observed (a dozen or so years ago):
"When people need to get in a car and drive to the health club to get exercise, it's no wonder the economy, the environment and peoples' health are all suffering." She remembered that when she was a teenager (in rural Michigan), a typical Saturday afternoon-evening comment among her friends was "Now what are we gonna do or eat?"

Besides walking, another highly beneficial activity is reading. Novels, plays, romances. And Scripture.

I agree with those who would add bicycling. Not doing a Turdy France on shared roads, but being mindful of and respectful toward surroundings, fellow travelers, etc.

I get my relaxation and meditation by running. Three or four times a week, at least 35 min. I will try walking when the going gets though (I just celebrated my 50th birthday)