Walking and Yoga — A Path to Health

By Nina Pileggi

Did you know that our everyday physical movements could be full of bad habits? Each of us has a certain way of standing, sitting, reaching, and even walking that might be hurting us. These lifelong habits that have been reinforced over months and even years can lead to some obvious and not so obvious affects on our bodies. Without our even being aware of the source of our aches and pains, these subtle but sometimes-unhealthy body movements can take their toll on our physical well-being.

The next time you are standing in line at the grocery store, take a moment to observe how you are standing. Are your feet turned out? Do you favor one leg? Are your feet rolling to the arches, or do you put more weight on the outer edges? Is one of your hips protruding? And what’s going on with your lower back, shoulders, and head?

Observing and understanding your standing habits can open a window of awareness into your walking habits. As a simple example, consider the walker who habitually stands with her feet turned out to the sides. Is it likely that she will walk with those same feet held in the turned-out position? Absolutely! For many people, the issue is not their feet, but their overly tight hip rotator muscles. By continuing to walk with her feet turned out, this walker is reinforcing a bad habit, and could be contributing to current or future knee, foot, and lower back issues as well.

Consider another walker, whose regular standing habit is to slump his shoulders forward, collapsing his chest. If this posture is carried into his walking, he could experience tired neck and shoulders, headaches, plus his breathing could be inefficient.

Strengths and weaknesses, tightness and flexibility, all play into our walking habits, which in turn can greatly affect our overall health. One approach to becoming more aware of unhealthy habits and making progress toward changing them is the practice of yoga.

The practice of yoga poses (or asanas) can provide many benefits to walkers. This is because yoga helps walkers identify and change their individual and sometimes-quirky little physical habits that may be contributing to discomfort during walking. Yoga is so effective in this regard because the practice is designed to balance the entire body. Let’s look at some of the benefits a well-designed yoga practice can offer the walker, as well as what a few beginning yoga poses could do to benefit you.

Strength
Most people imagine yoga as primarily a stretching activity. What often gets ignored is that a balanced yoga practice will greatly increase strength. Yoga poses involve the entire body, so while you are stretching one part of yourself, another part is working at becoming stronger. The triangle pose is a pose that opens the hips and creates length in the spine while strengthening the legs.

Flexibility
Of course, greater flexibility is an outcome of a consistent yoga practice. Yoga poses take joints through their range of motion to help create space in the joints and increase flexibility. Downward dog pose lengthens the hamstrings, stretches the shoulders and spine, and creates upper body strength.

Balance
As we age, balance becomes that much more important to our physical health in order to prevent falls. Many yoga poses require balance, and by working on balance, we can maintain our long-term health by being physically and emotionally centered to prevent falls.

Focus and Concentration
Yoga is more than stretching and balancing on one foot. When practicing yoga poses, your focus and concentration are improved by demanding that the entire body be engaged and work with itself as a whole. This way of working with your body leaves no room for the wandering mind.

Body Awareness
One of the biggest gifts of yoga is the gift of body awareness. Yoga asks us to move with care and attention. This translates into movement from the less-flexible areas and use of the less-developed muscles in order to achieve the desired shapes of the poses. As you progress in your yoga practice, you will learn about and become aware of your body. Once you begin noticing habits, you will progress to understanding their source and then learn to move in a new and healthier way.

How to Get Started
There are numerous books and DVDs of excellent quality, and nearby yoga studios offer classes for every ability level. A great way to learn about your habits is a yoga class with an experienced teacher who can work with you directly. It can be difficult for most people to learn a new way of moving without a trained eye to help get them started in the correct direction.

To find the yoga class that is right for you, be sure to ask about the teacher’s training, class sizes, experience, and the style of yoga being taught. Ask the teacher how she approaches beginning students. Also, inquire as to whether they have their own personal yoga practice, and how long they have been practicing. This will give you insight into their own commitment to the practice of yoga and their potential abilities as a teacher.

Walking and yoga are great partners on your path to health. Both can be done your entire life, and both can bring you immeasurable well-being.

Nina Pileggi is director and owner of Sunset Yoga Center located in Beaverton, OR. Nina is a Certified Iyengar yoga instructor and has been teaching yoga for over five years. She loves walking and hiking with her family.