.
The memories we have of facts and figures; of situations, things we have learned along the way; whether we have just a sense of recall of them or truly can remember every last little bit of detail about what happened ~ pretty much have entered our memory through the conscious path. In other words, as we experienced it, it became part of our short term memory ~ and after that, either because the event was important to us, or because we put effort into it (like learning things at school which you may have done through repeating the very things that you needed to remember) they have found their way into your long term memory...
Yet, for pretty much everybody their seem to be memories ~ things you seem to clearly remember ~ of situations or events that you have not physically experienced during your life.
For instance the sense you may get of ‘having been there before’ while, from a factual perspective you arrive there for the very first time in your life. Or a clear memory of a situation that took place in a different time, and perhaps even on a different continent...
These type of things would indicate that we remember things across time and space. Or do they?
Some people may say that what we ‘remember’ are no actual memories but more things that for one reason or another ‘we tune into’. We tune ourselves to a certain frequency, a certain field of energy perhaps, where images of some past event become available to us.
This brings up the question how those images, the knowledge of past events is being kept in that particular place, that specific energy.
In a way it seems that humanity is not the only one to have a memory. Somehow important events appear to be kept in the memory of the place where they took place. Like an energy imprint.
The manner in which we gain access to these energy imprints is through meditation; through our sensory awareness.
This may even mean that a place is just a place ~ we may even have visited it many times before ~ until that time that there is something in the atmosphere; a scent, a certain color of the light, a stillness; or sometimes a specific sound that puts us into the state of mind where we can remember whatever it is that is held in the energy imprint of that place...
In other words through a sensory trigger we may suddenly remember things across time and space.
It is important however, to realize that those memories may or may not be our own... And in fact, unless they are accompanied by an intuitive insight as to how they may fit into your life right now ~ they are mostly just ‘interesting stories’...
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Friday, September 28, 2012
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Memories
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We all have memories ~ some good, and perhaps some not so good...
Some people have great recall for things that have happened in a distant past, while others are more ‘short term oriented’.
Somehow it also seems to be influenced by our realm of interest. Things that are not that interesting to us are easier to forget; whereas things that are really important to us at that time can be remembered for ever. What is or isn’t important to us is very personal ~ what is important, or even a ‘big deal’ to one person can seem infinitely small to another. So it is not necessarily the factual event that makes something a ‘big deal’, but more the personal, emotional content of whatever is happening.
Looking at the way our memory works, it is divided in short term memory and long term memory, and on top of that in logical or aware memories and sensory or unaware memories.
Something can have happened yesterday and be lodged in the short term memory. If it is important enough it can from there be ‘transferred’ into the long term memory.
Now part of this memory is going to be logical, factual, and aware. In other words, we know what has happened, we can clearly recall the events. Another part of that same memory is sensory, and therefore unaware, or subconscious. Things like scents, sounds, a specific color of the sky; all those things are picked up by our senses and committed to memory ~ without us ever becoming aware of it necessarily.
When later in life a similar sensory signal is picked up again ~ it can bring the (possibly unrelated) memory back to mind.
For me, the scent of a specific kind of cigaret can instantly bring up vivid memories of a tropical country I visited long ago and far away...
In a sense, this is very similar to memories we can have from experiences or even information we may have received while in meditation... While we are still in that subconscious state of mind, we still have access to the memory and can recall that experience. But as soon as we return to our conscious, logical perspective ~ our day to day lives ~ the experience often proves to be fleeting and easily forgotten.
It is one of the reasons why often the advice is given to keep a notebook at hand to document meditative experiences or dreams. Once written down there is a record to fall back on; although often the act of writing the experience or dream down is enough to allow us to become fully aware of what has transpired...
.
.
We all have memories ~ some good, and perhaps some not so good...
Some people have great recall for things that have happened in a distant past, while others are more ‘short term oriented’.
Somehow it also seems to be influenced by our realm of interest. Things that are not that interesting to us are easier to forget; whereas things that are really important to us at that time can be remembered for ever. What is or isn’t important to us is very personal ~ what is important, or even a ‘big deal’ to one person can seem infinitely small to another. So it is not necessarily the factual event that makes something a ‘big deal’, but more the personal, emotional content of whatever is happening.
Looking at the way our memory works, it is divided in short term memory and long term memory, and on top of that in logical or aware memories and sensory or unaware memories.
Something can have happened yesterday and be lodged in the short term memory. If it is important enough it can from there be ‘transferred’ into the long term memory.
Now part of this memory is going to be logical, factual, and aware. In other words, we know what has happened, we can clearly recall the events. Another part of that same memory is sensory, and therefore unaware, or subconscious. Things like scents, sounds, a specific color of the sky; all those things are picked up by our senses and committed to memory ~ without us ever becoming aware of it necessarily.
When later in life a similar sensory signal is picked up again ~ it can bring the (possibly unrelated) memory back to mind.
For me, the scent of a specific kind of cigaret can instantly bring up vivid memories of a tropical country I visited long ago and far away...
In a sense, this is very similar to memories we can have from experiences or even information we may have received while in meditation... While we are still in that subconscious state of mind, we still have access to the memory and can recall that experience. But as soon as we return to our conscious, logical perspective ~ our day to day lives ~ the experience often proves to be fleeting and easily forgotten.
It is one of the reasons why often the advice is given to keep a notebook at hand to document meditative experiences or dreams. Once written down there is a record to fall back on; although often the act of writing the experience or dream down is enough to allow us to become fully aware of what has transpired...
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Friday, September 21, 2012
Overview
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Every once in a while it is a good idea to step back from whatever it is you are doing in order to see it from a different perspective ~ from an overview perspective.
Once we get involved in the ‘nitty-gritty’ of the project, work or chore at hand we can see the details, the immediate things we need to do or take care of ~ but at the same time we may loose track of our greater goal. We may get so overwhelmed by what needs to be done, that we cannot see what could be done in order to reach our objective.
It is that situation when we can help ourselves by taking a deep breath, closing our eyes for maybe 30 seconds ~ so we can disentangle ourselves from what we are doing enough to get a fresh perspective on where we are going. To get an overview perspective...
Yesterday I found myself in a position to have a much more literal overview perspective as I took a short gondola ride over an extensive exhibition.
Looking down ~ even though it wasn’t that high up ~ things looked decidedly different!
Suddenly it was easy to see how the different parts of the exhibit were laid out. People walking around through the same parts of the show we had just left looked much smaller from above. And looking at other components of the display shapes and colors were mosaic-like, rather than the 3-D walk-through experiences that they are from an ‘on the ground’ perspective.
It was a terrific illustration of what happens when you allow yourself to see things as an overview!
The things you already know are placed in their proper perspective. This often means that they are much smaller than you had perceived them before ~ being components of a whole rather than mountainous obstacles.
New things can be seen as a pattern, a mosaic. This way you can see that there are multiple ways to either work with it, or to circumvent it if what is there does not belong in your vision or plan...
Having seen the overview has provided a ‘road map’ to the goal. And while ~ when you are dealing with the ‘nitty-gritty’ of it all ~ small things can be really ‘in your face’, taking up a lot of time and more energy than you intended to give it; stepping back from it to observe what is happening from a distance, an overview, permits you to discern what is really important and what is not.
Yet putting yourself in the position from which you can see that overview perspective is not always easy. Sometimes I just wish I could take a short gondola ride over my life...
.
.
Every once in a while it is a good idea to step back from whatever it is you are doing in order to see it from a different perspective ~ from an overview perspective.
Once we get involved in the ‘nitty-gritty’ of the project, work or chore at hand we can see the details, the immediate things we need to do or take care of ~ but at the same time we may loose track of our greater goal. We may get so overwhelmed by what needs to be done, that we cannot see what could be done in order to reach our objective.
It is that situation when we can help ourselves by taking a deep breath, closing our eyes for maybe 30 seconds ~ so we can disentangle ourselves from what we are doing enough to get a fresh perspective on where we are going. To get an overview perspective...
Yesterday I found myself in a position to have a much more literal overview perspective as I took a short gondola ride over an extensive exhibition.
Looking down ~ even though it wasn’t that high up ~ things looked decidedly different!
Suddenly it was easy to see how the different parts of the exhibit were laid out. People walking around through the same parts of the show we had just left looked much smaller from above. And looking at other components of the display shapes and colors were mosaic-like, rather than the 3-D walk-through experiences that they are from an ‘on the ground’ perspective.
It was a terrific illustration of what happens when you allow yourself to see things as an overview!
The things you already know are placed in their proper perspective. This often means that they are much smaller than you had perceived them before ~ being components of a whole rather than mountainous obstacles.
New things can be seen as a pattern, a mosaic. This way you can see that there are multiple ways to either work with it, or to circumvent it if what is there does not belong in your vision or plan...
Having seen the overview has provided a ‘road map’ to the goal. And while ~ when you are dealing with the ‘nitty-gritty’ of it all ~ small things can be really ‘in your face’, taking up a lot of time and more energy than you intended to give it; stepping back from it to observe what is happening from a distance, an overview, permits you to discern what is really important and what is not.
Yet putting yourself in the position from which you can see that overview perspective is not always easy. Sometimes I just wish I could take a short gondola ride over my life...
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Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Mystic
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In the world of today in which there seems to be an ever more predominant focus on the physical, the material; when ‘we want what we want and we want it now’ ~ I do wonder every once in a while if there is still a space for the mystic. A space where balance is created from its essence energy and spread in ways that defy logic...
But then again, perhaps in this time when polarities are ever more visible, those two ways of experiencing life are two sides of the same coin ~ and as such would not be able to exist without the other. If there was not a building focus on spirituality, it might not spark the increasing focus on the material; the physical appearance.
It is how polarities work ~ two perspectives, often on opposite sides of the spectrum; and yet dependent on each other for their very existence.
From that perspective that mystic space seems to be gathering in strength these days, as does its polarity... And yet it is hard to really put a finger on what that mystic space, the mystic energy entails.
The mystic in all of its facets is mysterious...
The way a mystic works is often not recognized as he works with the core energy of that which he perceives as reality. The energy behind the energy that we so easily pick up on when we say ‘that feels good, or right’, or even ‘that doesn’t feel right’. The way a mystic works is therefore non-logical and very personal. The energies he works with, though they seem nebulous, are strong ~ and given the chance can indeed move mountains...
Let me give an example.
When we want to manifest something in our lives, we go through the steps to make that happen:
We create a space for it in our lives.
We visualize it in our lives.
We affirm that it is in our lives.
And pretty soon the manifestation occurs.
The mystic approach is that a need is recognized. This can be a need for balance, or peace; but it can also be a need for transportation, work, or something personal. A true need is like a void, an emptiness that already exists. The mystic will fill this emptiness, this space, with the core energy of that which is needed.
And where the energy flows, manifestation follows...
I sometimes compare the process to the wind...
A gentle breeze can rustle the leaves of the trees, moving by and leaving the tree unharmed ~ then pick up in strength and hollow out rocks; creating the most magnificent scenery.
Seemingly unplanned. Just by allowing the energy to flow...
.
.
In the world of today in which there seems to be an ever more predominant focus on the physical, the material; when ‘we want what we want and we want it now’ ~ I do wonder every once in a while if there is still a space for the mystic. A space where balance is created from its essence energy and spread in ways that defy logic...
But then again, perhaps in this time when polarities are ever more visible, those two ways of experiencing life are two sides of the same coin ~ and as such would not be able to exist without the other. If there was not a building focus on spirituality, it might not spark the increasing focus on the material; the physical appearance.
It is how polarities work ~ two perspectives, often on opposite sides of the spectrum; and yet dependent on each other for their very existence.
From that perspective that mystic space seems to be gathering in strength these days, as does its polarity... And yet it is hard to really put a finger on what that mystic space, the mystic energy entails.
The mystic in all of its facets is mysterious...
The way a mystic works is often not recognized as he works with the core energy of that which he perceives as reality. The energy behind the energy that we so easily pick up on when we say ‘that feels good, or right’, or even ‘that doesn’t feel right’. The way a mystic works is therefore non-logical and very personal. The energies he works with, though they seem nebulous, are strong ~ and given the chance can indeed move mountains...
Let me give an example.
When we want to manifest something in our lives, we go through the steps to make that happen:
We create a space for it in our lives.
We visualize it in our lives.
We affirm that it is in our lives.
And pretty soon the manifestation occurs.
The mystic approach is that a need is recognized. This can be a need for balance, or peace; but it can also be a need for transportation, work, or something personal. A true need is like a void, an emptiness that already exists. The mystic will fill this emptiness, this space, with the core energy of that which is needed.
And where the energy flows, manifestation follows...
I sometimes compare the process to the wind...
A gentle breeze can rustle the leaves of the trees, moving by and leaving the tree unharmed ~ then pick up in strength and hollow out rocks; creating the most magnificent scenery.
Seemingly unplanned. Just by allowing the energy to flow...
.
.
Friday, September 14, 2012
Time
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We measure many things in life through time. The time it takes to get where you want to go, the time for an appointment, the time for shopping, getting the household chores done... And of course me-time, the time we set aside to just take a deep breath and relax.
Time is for many of us an unending string of events, often planned way closer together than they should be causing us to run out of time on occasion.
Time is arguably the number one excuse used to do things, or perhaps to not do things. “I don’t have time for that...” When this is said it may not mean that a person in actuality doesn’t have time for that particular event or appointment. It often indicates that a person is running out of patience or is fed up with something. Whatever it is, it is not worth spending any more time on than one already has...
In our world of today, time is also equated to money: “Time is money”. If you have time you can use it effectively, productively and permit it to result in earning a living. And there may be instances where ‘having time’ for just about anything one would want to do ~ it in itself becomes worth a lot of money. Money spend to buy time.
In nature, rather than our linear experience, time runs in cycles. The cycles of day and night, the cycles of the moon, the cycles of the seasons. And independent what event is taking place in nature, there is always time to complete the process.
In nature there are no set times in which things need to be finished ~ somehow everything starts and ends at just the right time.
This doesn’t mean that there aren’t energy shifts in nature ~ there are! Those moments in time when the energy moves from one phase into the next. Yet it doesn’t mean that the leaves that started growing in Spring will stop growing with the Summer solstice. They will stop growing when they are mature.
There are shifts in energy noting the different phases of pretty much all cycles in nature ~ day and night, the new and the full moon, and the beginning of each season ~ and these energy shifts ‘keep time’ in a fairly flexible manner.
It seems like they are different, perhaps even polarities expressed in a cyclic or conceivably a spiral manner ~ allowing nature and us to evolve.
In the right and perfect time...
Could it be that this is at least part of the reason why our ‘normal’ days go by so fast where as a day spend in nature seems sheer endless?
.
.
We measure many things in life through time. The time it takes to get where you want to go, the time for an appointment, the time for shopping, getting the household chores done... And of course me-time, the time we set aside to just take a deep breath and relax.
Time is for many of us an unending string of events, often planned way closer together than they should be causing us to run out of time on occasion.
Time is arguably the number one excuse used to do things, or perhaps to not do things. “I don’t have time for that...” When this is said it may not mean that a person in actuality doesn’t have time for that particular event or appointment. It often indicates that a person is running out of patience or is fed up with something. Whatever it is, it is not worth spending any more time on than one already has...
In our world of today, time is also equated to money: “Time is money”. If you have time you can use it effectively, productively and permit it to result in earning a living. And there may be instances where ‘having time’ for just about anything one would want to do ~ it in itself becomes worth a lot of money. Money spend to buy time.
In nature, rather than our linear experience, time runs in cycles. The cycles of day and night, the cycles of the moon, the cycles of the seasons. And independent what event is taking place in nature, there is always time to complete the process.
In nature there are no set times in which things need to be finished ~ somehow everything starts and ends at just the right time.
This doesn’t mean that there aren’t energy shifts in nature ~ there are! Those moments in time when the energy moves from one phase into the next. Yet it doesn’t mean that the leaves that started growing in Spring will stop growing with the Summer solstice. They will stop growing when they are mature.
There are shifts in energy noting the different phases of pretty much all cycles in nature ~ day and night, the new and the full moon, and the beginning of each season ~ and these energy shifts ‘keep time’ in a fairly flexible manner.
It seems like they are different, perhaps even polarities expressed in a cyclic or conceivably a spiral manner ~ allowing nature and us to evolve.
In the right and perfect time...
Could it be that this is at least part of the reason why our ‘normal’ days go by so fast where as a day spend in nature seems sheer endless?
.
.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Differences of opinion
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We all have our own perspectives, our own ways of experiencing life as we encounter it on a day by day basis. We also have our own way of expressing these differences and the way we think about them ~ our very own opinions.
There is nothing unusual about it. Having our own opinions is a normal part of life.
It is also something that can make our lives interesting. We already know how we think about something, yet chances are that pretty much everybody else has different thoughts, or even different opinions about the same situation.
And if we are patient enough ~ and perhaps above that, tolerant enough ~ to listen to all the different opinions pertaining to the same thing or situation; chances are we will end up with an enormously broadened perspective on it as each opinion may reveal a different aspect of the same thing or situation.
However, for this to happen indeed is unusual...
Normally we have little patience for the opinions of others; we tend to stick with our own. And not only that ~ we are likely to defend our own opinions, sometimes even up to the point of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’: I am seeing this right, and therefore you must be seeing it wrong. As soon as this path is taken there is an ‘us and them’ mentality. We are right, and as they are seeing it differently, or are having a different opinion ~ they must be wrong.
And as they are ‘wrong’ we will have to defend our opinion, because we are ‘right’.
At this point we have allowed ourselves to step into our own, personal ‘crusade’.
What started as having differences of opinion ~ something that can enrich our lives to no end ~ now has become a battle of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’. Something we have to defend, almost at any cost...
At the same time, we have closed our minds to new perspectives, new experiences. Instead of broadening our horizons, we have narrowed our viewpoint such that it only includes the facts as we see them, think about them or feel them as truth ~ with no room for expansion.
Certainly in the energy of today ~ an energy in which polarities are brought to the surface ~ having differences of opinion can easily work both ways. Our ~ different ~ opinion can just as easily become the basis for our personal ‘crusade’ as it can help reveal a different aspect of a situation or something that is going on.
And we ourselves determine whether the differences of opinion are going to be a source of enrichment in our lives ~ or a source of frustration and hostility.
Now, more than ever before, the choice is ours...
.
.
We all have our own perspectives, our own ways of experiencing life as we encounter it on a day by day basis. We also have our own way of expressing these differences and the way we think about them ~ our very own opinions.
There is nothing unusual about it. Having our own opinions is a normal part of life.
It is also something that can make our lives interesting. We already know how we think about something, yet chances are that pretty much everybody else has different thoughts, or even different opinions about the same situation.
And if we are patient enough ~ and perhaps above that, tolerant enough ~ to listen to all the different opinions pertaining to the same thing or situation; chances are we will end up with an enormously broadened perspective on it as each opinion may reveal a different aspect of the same thing or situation.
However, for this to happen indeed is unusual...
Normally we have little patience for the opinions of others; we tend to stick with our own. And not only that ~ we are likely to defend our own opinions, sometimes even up to the point of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’: I am seeing this right, and therefore you must be seeing it wrong. As soon as this path is taken there is an ‘us and them’ mentality. We are right, and as they are seeing it differently, or are having a different opinion ~ they must be wrong.
And as they are ‘wrong’ we will have to defend our opinion, because we are ‘right’.
At this point we have allowed ourselves to step into our own, personal ‘crusade’.
What started as having differences of opinion ~ something that can enrich our lives to no end ~ now has become a battle of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’. Something we have to defend, almost at any cost...
At the same time, we have closed our minds to new perspectives, new experiences. Instead of broadening our horizons, we have narrowed our viewpoint such that it only includes the facts as we see them, think about them or feel them as truth ~ with no room for expansion.
Certainly in the energy of today ~ an energy in which polarities are brought to the surface ~ having differences of opinion can easily work both ways. Our ~ different ~ opinion can just as easily become the basis for our personal ‘crusade’ as it can help reveal a different aspect of a situation or something that is going on.
And we ourselves determine whether the differences of opinion are going to be a source of enrichment in our lives ~ or a source of frustration and hostility.
Now, more than ever before, the choice is ours...
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Friday, September 7, 2012
‘Running or standing still’
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‘Running or standing still’ is an expression from where I grew up. It has nothing to do with running, walking or standing still in itself. As an expression it refers to life as it either moves along very fast ~ even faster than one may feel is comfortable ~ or is ‘standing still’; a situation where nothing at all is happening.
In the energy of today, with polarities playing an ever more important role in the world and in our lives ~ it seems an apt expression.
When life is ‘standing still’, no matter how hard you try to get things moving, to make something happen ~ anything at all ~ it doesn’t work. It is like pushing against a wall. You are loosing all of your energy, but at the end of the day the wall is still standing there...
And then, just when you may be thinking to give up on the project, or direction you had been poring all your energy into ~ without any perceivable effect ~ things start moving. Sometimes because you find yourself at the right place at the right time; or because you meet the ‘right person’ (even when you don’t know you do at the time); or even because of an off the cuff remark you have overheard while getting yourself a cup of coffee ~ whatever it is, it helps break something loose and before you know it things ~ both expected as well as unexpected things ~ are happening at breakneck speed.
And all you can do is start running to keep up with the events that are happening in your life...
I have often wondered what the differences were between ‘running and standing still’ with projects I have launched in the past.
The most obvious reason is likely to be timing. Perhaps not my desired timing, but rather the timing of the universe in which things are to unfold...
Another reason why things may not be happening can have to do with focus. It seems that when you have a singular focus it is easier to set a project in motion than when you are multitasking. The funny thing is though, that when I really started to focus on one activity ~ things started moving on all fronts. And before I knew it, I was multitasking again.
It makes me think that there is a bit more to it.
As it turns out one of the greatest influences on us getting things done is whether we believe we can do it.
All this time we spend planning, uncertain whether we can actually achieve what we dream of doing ~ one way or another we cannot see the pathway to success. And when, for whatever reason we suddenly see how we can accomplish it, things break loose and and we are off and running!
.
.
‘Running or standing still’ is an expression from where I grew up. It has nothing to do with running, walking or standing still in itself. As an expression it refers to life as it either moves along very fast ~ even faster than one may feel is comfortable ~ or is ‘standing still’; a situation where nothing at all is happening.
In the energy of today, with polarities playing an ever more important role in the world and in our lives ~ it seems an apt expression.
When life is ‘standing still’, no matter how hard you try to get things moving, to make something happen ~ anything at all ~ it doesn’t work. It is like pushing against a wall. You are loosing all of your energy, but at the end of the day the wall is still standing there...
And then, just when you may be thinking to give up on the project, or direction you had been poring all your energy into ~ without any perceivable effect ~ things start moving. Sometimes because you find yourself at the right place at the right time; or because you meet the ‘right person’ (even when you don’t know you do at the time); or even because of an off the cuff remark you have overheard while getting yourself a cup of coffee ~ whatever it is, it helps break something loose and before you know it things ~ both expected as well as unexpected things ~ are happening at breakneck speed.
And all you can do is start running to keep up with the events that are happening in your life...
I have often wondered what the differences were between ‘running and standing still’ with projects I have launched in the past.
The most obvious reason is likely to be timing. Perhaps not my desired timing, but rather the timing of the universe in which things are to unfold...
Another reason why things may not be happening can have to do with focus. It seems that when you have a singular focus it is easier to set a project in motion than when you are multitasking. The funny thing is though, that when I really started to focus on one activity ~ things started moving on all fronts. And before I knew it, I was multitasking again.
It makes me think that there is a bit more to it.
As it turns out one of the greatest influences on us getting things done is whether we believe we can do it.
All this time we spend planning, uncertain whether we can actually achieve what we dream of doing ~ one way or another we cannot see the pathway to success. And when, for whatever reason we suddenly see how we can accomplish it, things break loose and and we are off and running!
.
.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Walking
.
Walking ~ in any and all of its forms ~ has many benefits. It gets us where we want to go from more than one perspective...
The most common way to benefit from walking ~ putting it in those words ~ is jogging or running. Wherever you go, you see people running at there own pace; working to stay in shape. Or to get back in shape. Most of them have an energy that seems to be turned inward about them as they are moving by with wires coming from their ears leading to a, usually unseen MP3 device. Running to the beat of the music perhaps. Or at least ‘doing something’ while running...
Research suggests that we don’t have to be jogging or running in order to benefit from walking. Just taking a half an hour every day to go for a walk ~ putting one foot in front of the other ~ can help us maintain a mental balance. As well as the fact that it can help us to stay in shape.
The reasons mentioned for this more mental benefit of walking lies at least partly in the interaction between both hemispheres of our brain. Through walking ~ left foot, right foot, left foot and so on ~ this interaction is activated, and to some extend optimized.
It is one of the reasons why it can be helpful to us to talk out a situation; the things we are thinking about, or the things we want to say while walking ~ as it gives us both the left brain and the right brain views on that particular situation...
This happens equally while walking or running on a treadmill or as you are exercising outside. It is the mechanics of walking that provide us with this benefit.
Walking or running outside does have yet one more advantage to us...
As we are moving through a broader environment, whether it is the city streets or nature, the act of choosing our route, of paying attention to traffic, the people, and things around us broadens our perspectives. It has a tendency to widen our horizons. In a sense, it sets us up to start thinking outside of the box...
And yes, this seems to be more pronounced when you pay attention to where you are at and where you are going with each next step ~ rather than a more inward, ‘listening to music’, or a ‘gotta do something while running’ focus.
What walking in all of its forms has in common is that it moves us forward. It moves us closer to where we want to go. Whether that is the supermarket to pick up a couple of groceries; or the next step on our own, individual, personal paths...
.
.
Walking ~ in any and all of its forms ~ has many benefits. It gets us where we want to go from more than one perspective...
The most common way to benefit from walking ~ putting it in those words ~ is jogging or running. Wherever you go, you see people running at there own pace; working to stay in shape. Or to get back in shape. Most of them have an energy that seems to be turned inward about them as they are moving by with wires coming from their ears leading to a, usually unseen MP3 device. Running to the beat of the music perhaps. Or at least ‘doing something’ while running...
Research suggests that we don’t have to be jogging or running in order to benefit from walking. Just taking a half an hour every day to go for a walk ~ putting one foot in front of the other ~ can help us maintain a mental balance. As well as the fact that it can help us to stay in shape.
The reasons mentioned for this more mental benefit of walking lies at least partly in the interaction between both hemispheres of our brain. Through walking ~ left foot, right foot, left foot and so on ~ this interaction is activated, and to some extend optimized.
It is one of the reasons why it can be helpful to us to talk out a situation; the things we are thinking about, or the things we want to say while walking ~ as it gives us both the left brain and the right brain views on that particular situation...
This happens equally while walking or running on a treadmill or as you are exercising outside. It is the mechanics of walking that provide us with this benefit.
Walking or running outside does have yet one more advantage to us...
As we are moving through a broader environment, whether it is the city streets or nature, the act of choosing our route, of paying attention to traffic, the people, and things around us broadens our perspectives. It has a tendency to widen our horizons. In a sense, it sets us up to start thinking outside of the box...
And yes, this seems to be more pronounced when you pay attention to where you are at and where you are going with each next step ~ rather than a more inward, ‘listening to music’, or a ‘gotta do something while running’ focus.
What walking in all of its forms has in common is that it moves us forward. It moves us closer to where we want to go. Whether that is the supermarket to pick up a couple of groceries; or the next step on our own, individual, personal paths...
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