Breathe

I'm really beginning to get into the walking lark.  I remember now how important it is for me to have a reason for walking.  I don't really do exercise for the sake of doing exercise but walking to work and back, that makes sense.  I also remember the thinking time it gives me.  Not that I have anything major to think about, I am (fingers crossed) problem-free at the moment.  That doesn't mean my life is perfect just that it seems to be under control.

With this in mind, I spend a lot of my walk looking at the houses I'm passing and wondering what the people inside are doing.  And it struck me again today just how little separates the inside from the outside, in some cases a single pane of glass.  We humans are very good at convincing ourselves that we are safe and private.  Have you ever considered just how flimsy the partitions are in communal toilets?  Yet the thought of truly communal toilets a la The Romans would have most of us nauseous with disgust.  And having sex in the same room as your children?  Never (but check with your (great) grandparents and you'll get a different picture).  We are so spoilt.

The other thing I do while walking is compose long rants about the injustices in society and, being extremely selfish, specifically how this society is unjust for me.  As a single working woman I seem to pay all of the costs and receive none of the benefits - this is enough to get a good long diatribe going in my head.  And the great thing about doing it while walking is that I never feel the need to say it but I'm well prepared if someone should piss me off (especially moaning minnie parents - no-one forced you to procreate).

Apart from the health-giving properties and the thinking time, the other advantage I've found from walking is that I'm breathing better.  I can feel my ribcage expanding and contracting - breathing more deeply - and that has to be good for all sorts of reasons.  When I do Tai Chi we try to concentrate on the belly when breathing.  Now I have a big belly and trying to control it in any way is not something I'm used to... contract when breathing out?  eh? what? relax when breathing in?  try to keep the breath smooth?  what's he going on about?  So when the chest breathing of walking mixes with the belly breathing of Tai Chi life is going to get interesting (or not - we'll have to wait and see).