Slowing Down

[TerraMer]

I was out walking yesterday (Gulaga) and the thought came to met that I take life very seriously, too seriously, especially walking.
People have been hinting this for a long time but it never really sunk in until I pulled myself up from a lengthy train of thought all about speed, time, distance, stride length. I do this all the time and, although I enjoy being out there in nature I think I will enjoy it a whole lot more if I forget about all that.

How do I go about changing this? Have any of you been through the transition of serious walker to relaxed walker, analysing almost every step to letting go and having fun?
What are your tips to effectively making the transition?

[David M]

Just remember, it is not a race. And, if walking with others, a basic principle is that the group walks at the speed of the slowest member (without complaint).

[Son of a Beach]

While testing out the idea of setting up a blog for this site, I wrote an article called "The Lazy Bushwalker". It describes part of my atitude to bushwalking. To summarise: It's about being there (and not about getting there).
(Where "there" isn't just one spot, but can be all along the way - if that makes any sense.)

Having said that, changing one's own atitude/perspective/feelings/habits/etc is not an easy thing to do. We tend to do what comes naturally, and doing anything else is a real challenge. All the best with it.

PS. I may as well copy/paste the text of the article here (the pictures were added later, anyhow)...

The lazy bushwalker is more interested in being there than getting there; more interested in being there than having been there; more interested in being there than in photos from there; more interested in being there than planning how to get there; more interested in being there than in the gear used to get there.

However, each of those other elements of bushwalking can enhance the experience of being there.

I’m happy to climb mountains or walk right past them. I’m happy to follow a track or bash through scrub. I’m happy to walk to the next camp site or stay at this one. I’m happy to walk with faster walkers, slower walkers or by myself. I’m happy to have a lighter load or to carry more luxuries. I’m happy to sleep in a tent or a hut or under a rock. I’m happy to wear boots or sneakers or to walk bare foot.

I’m most happy when I’m there with my wife who is even more interested in being there and less interested in getting there than I am.

Having my kids there with me is a bonus.

[walk2wineries]

Real Walkers may look down their noses but you might try a Walkman/iPod - particularly if (as I infer from the reference to "stride length") you are walking on an easy or uninteresting path. It isn't easy to empty one's mind, widening one's areas of interest in order to be less intense might help?
EG a more formal interest in your surrounds - not a birdbook log or putting latin tags to everything which might further worry your companions, just looking up ahead what's likely to be flowering and keeping an eye out for it. Or whatever. We were walking at Anstey Hill last week - rich in history, sort of place there are the occasional interpretive signs at some ruins, just enought to raise more questions. So the history of the area? Or the wider geography - eg if your walk includes a lookout, looking up and then being able to identify landmarks visible from it and from other parts of the walk might produce a more relaxed effect. Maybe you do all this already - but you did ask.

[walk2wineries]

PS just looked up that blog - enchanted! More please

[puredingo]

just simply do what Frankie sez to do.....

[MrWalker]

How do I go about changing this?

TerraMer, you don't have to change. For some of us it is perfectly normal to track our progress with a pedometer, or keep whipping out the GPS, not to see where we are but to check our average speed for the trip, then increase our pace if it drops below 5kph. Or you try to see how far you can go in one day, or how quickly you can get to to some remote spot and back again.

I admit that not everyone likes to walk this way, but don't feel that you must change unless you really want to.

[tastrax]

I am the sort of walker who is happy to plan a day trip and then find when I am halfway to the destination and I find a great place to sit down and check out the view, may well spend the next few hours just sitting there, thinking and even reading a book! Its about being out there as much as the destination.

[Nuts]

A long walk is the cure Terra Mer.. if you still have worries at the end then it wasn't long enough, go back out, listen harder. Report back

[DarrenM]

Your body will let you know when It's time to slow down. Accepting it is the hard part. If you enjoy pushing hard, why stop?

[DonQx]

I was out walking yesterday (Gulaga) and the thought came to met that I take life very seriously, too seriously, especially walking.
People have been hinting this for a long time but it never really sunk in until I pulled myself up from a lengthy train of thought all about speed, time, distance, stride length. I do this all the time and, although I enjoy being out there in nature I think I will enjoy it a whole lot more if I forget about all that.

How do I go about changing this? Have any of you been through the transition of serious walker to relaxed walker, analysing almost every step to letting go and having fun?
What are your tips to effectively making the transition?

Gutsy question! Sounds to me like this is less about the walking pace and more about the mental pace/intensity/focus.

As SoaB says, change isn't that easy.

Basically, you'll need to work on re-training your mind. Getting to the point where you can freely choose where your attention goes & where it stays.

How do you do that? ... Good question! ... this is a pretty big topic. No quick solutions.

Do a web search using the term "mindfulness".

See what you find and whether any of it makes any sense.

Let us know how you go.

dq.

[TerraMer]

All fantastic feedback. Thank you for all these great ideas and thoughts.
In 2 weeks I will be free to take off for a week or so alone. I will implement some of these tips, especially mindfulness, and keep in mind I don't have to change everything, just use some moderation.
The memory is a bit lazy these days but I will try to remember to report back. And try to pick a really beautiful walk, post up some pics and share it.
Show the Taswegians how beautiful NE NSW is in winter

[South_Aussie_Hiker]

I also can have an over-active mind, which I often find debilitating. Some things I use to help relax more when bushwalking.

1. Take off your watch and put it at the bottom of your pack. You get there when you get there. No schedule to keep now

2. Every time before you start walking again (after a toilet break, after food, after a rest stop) take two DEEP and SLOW breaths and listen to what is around you

3. While it is important for safety reasons to study the route, don't over do it. Checking your progress every 5 seconds (where am I, what does the map say, what should I be able to see) ruins the tranquility and calmness of walking and turns it into an occupation

4. Every time you find yourself counting your stride, stop and sit down until you have relaxed, then start again (subconsciously trains your brain that if you try to push faster, you will end up taking longer)

5. Breathe more slowly when you walk. Counting strides is usually done by people who also breathe in time with their stride as well. If you consciously slow your breathing just a bit, you'll find your walking pace will relax ever so slightly

6. Try and sometimes do walks which are very easy and well marked. If you get in a routine of tough, multi-day hikes you can forget to how to "meander" along.

7. Listening to music is a great recommendation, but choose the right music (peaceful, relaxing). As you walk, keep turning it down one notch every 10 mins or so until it is barely audible. Music is more relaxing when quiet, and that way you will still get all the sounds you came for - wind, squelching puddles, crickets etc.

8. Don't look at your feet if you can help it. A lot of the time I understand this is not possible on uneven, rough or steep ground.
The first time I walked the Loddens I looked at my feet for four hours with my head down. Didn't see a damn thing of what I came to see (nature). By the end of it, I was completely wrecked mentally and didn't enjoy the day at all (and had a raging headache/sore neck). On the way out, I decided not to look at my feet - saw lots of cool stuff, actually walked a bit quicker, but it felt so much calmer and more relaxed.
You are here to see nature so keep your head up as much as possible while walking, but not so much that you trip and hurt yourself!

9. An overactive mind could be caused by not relieving stress enough. Do something silly that really gets your heart racing - the stress relief will mean that afterwards you are more relaxed and will sleep better. A good example of this is to go and jump into a cold stream for a wash after a long day's trudging - initially gets the heart going, but afterwards you feel cleaner and more relaxed/sleep better.

[jford]

Don't change the walking. Change everything else around the walking. I find that my bushwalking is done in time snatched from work, home, family etc, so I rush about too much and have to remind myself to slow down; "but I'm only here for two days (or whatever) and want to get from A to B and back again in order to maximise the experience." If there's less pressure from everything else in life, then walking will have less pressure associated with it. That's my feeling at least.

[TerraMer]

That's awesome South_Aussie_Hiker. Point 4 made me laugh

[DonQx]

Something practical I learnt from a great teacher …

Our minds need to be active unless you’ve got an unusually well trained mind. To be active it will grab at anything … any old thought / feeling / image / sound / etc. will do. Most of that is habit. Some of those habits aren't pretty.

If you want to change something about that, one of the easisest things is to give the mind something to do that will improve the situation … replacing whatever goes on in the mind with something better. A bit like giving a dog a toy to chew on instead of the couch.

One way of going about it is to pick a short inspirational phrase and gently & slowly repeat it over & over & over & over …. gently. And gently coming back to it every time you notice that you’ve lost it.

The phrase could come from poetry, from someone you admire, from spiritual reading, from prayer, … whatever inspires you.

One phrase that I really like is “Let me walk in beauty” (a bit of background for example here: http://artbystrongheart.wordpress.com/2 ... in-beauty/).

I’ve been on solo trips of a week and longer where I kept the slow & gentle repetition going most of the time. It has a chance of profoundly changing you … in a good way.

dq

[corvus]

You could sing to yourself even when walking with friends I sometimes find myself engrossed in in a "blast from the past" in my head, ageing also helps as you have no choice
corvus

[TerraMer]

I can relate to that Corvus. I get a few ditties stuck in there but they make me smile like from the Muppets, Monty Python and Hitchhikers Guide...
DQ, I often and increasingly need to stop, sit and meditate. I used to do a lot meditation walking but finding it harder to get focussed and stay focussed.
I'll try the mantra/repetition idea, some of my favourite quotes are about the beauty in nature.
When i take my camera I slow down. Photography is a bit like therapy for me. If I take my camera I usually take twice as long to walk anywhere. I completely lose track of time and often forget to eat and wonder why I'm so tired and hungry by 4pm.
jford, that is a really interesting way to look at it and I think it deserves more discussion. Are you touching on the concept of slowing down life and simplifying work, love, play, etc to what is most valuable and sustainable?

[jford]

@TerraMer- Kind of touching on those issues a bit. I know in the madness of getting the kids to school/tennis/music/drama class, meeting deadlines at work, caring for aged parents, attempting to maintain some friendships/social life, earning enough to pay the rates, bills, Wild subscription, etc, etc, etc, that finding time to walk is difficult. Finding people to walk with is also difficult. I did a trip up Bogong a few weeks ago and felt fantastic when I got back, however I need to go bush every few weeks to keep the feeling going.

[mikethepike]

Hi TerraMer,
Have you ever tried rogaining? Your fitness and walking approach would help you keep track of your map position and if your compass skills are good, you would do very well at it and not feel different to anyone else out there.

I don't think that a (comparatively) high walking speed and having a relaxed mind are necessarily contradictory. As long as you enjoy the fast walking, I see no problem but i find it hard to equate enjoyment with feeling driven to walk fast except in a rogaine and then of course, it's all part of the fun. Age will eventually slow you down though I suppose you may still feel the need to walk fast. Adopt both types (slow and fast) of walking as each better suits the circumstances and then be happy about it.

I am a naturally fast walker and this helps me do long walks which I really enjoy, often estimating what I think I can manage each day and then seeing how things go. Instead of deliberately walking fast though, I'd prefer to walk for longer, and with solo cross-country walking, that reduces the risk of injury. And I can definitely enjoy the odd bludge day amongst them. .

Depending on your attention to as you walk, I think you can still see as much of your local surroundings whatever speed you are walking. Let's face it, you can be sitting down for a break and there can be all sorts of nature's mysteries within metres of you let alone the square metre of dirt you're sitting on, and you can miss most of it, not even necessarily knowing what to look for. I think the test is, will you pull up once in awhile to enjoy your surroundings when the speed side of your brain might prefer to keep going. I remember coming to Crossing River on the Port Davey Track a few years ago and it was so beautiful I stopped for a cup of tea (something I never do) just to enjoy it all. A shortcoming of mine is to look at to ground too much as I walk, I make an effort not to, but I've taken up an interest in soil lichens and this keeps me interested when the effort fails.

I wish you mush enjoyable walking whatever speed you go.

[tas-man]

You could sing to yourself even when walking with friends I sometimes find myself engrossed in in a "blast from the past" in my head, ageing also helps as you have no choice
corvus

Your post corvus unfortunately reminded me of the song that is forever etched into my brain cells from singing it in Dec 1971 while walking across the button grass plains from Scotts Peak to Lake Pedder, then up Frenchmans Cap, and along the Overland Track - "Mamy Blue" by Joel Dayde - it was in the hit parade at that time (and got to #2 in Australia in 1971), and unfortunately our brains do NOT have an erase button!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamy_Blue

[cjhfield]

My 2 cents - get a camera ideally with a close up or macro capability. Then any given square metre will give you plenty to observe and wonder about. It will get you really looking what is there and you wont want to rush. When I walk with my family I always start out well but I am soon at the back of the pack distracted by a mushroom or some such.

Chris

[corvus]

You could sing to yourself even when walking with friends I sometimes find myself engrossed in in a "blast from the past" in my head, ageing also helps as you have no choice
corvus

Your post corvus unfortunately reminded me of the song that is forever etched into my brain cells from singing it in Dec 1971 while walking across the button grass plains from Scotts Peak to Lake Pedder, then up Frenchmans Cap, and along the Overland Track - "Mamy Blue" by Joel Dayde - it was in the hit parade at that time (and got to #2 in Australia in 1971), and unfortunately our brains do NOT have an erase button!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamy_Blue

As it has easy chords I play and sing it regularly
corvus

[seagullhike]

After walking for a long period, a couple of days or so I often get through all the thoughts that have been lingering around my brain before starting the walk. After this happens things can go two ways, I either get into a very relaxed train of thought and focus on the surroundings reaching a "zen" state, or I repeatedly sing talking heads records from start to finish. I enjoy both states of mind equally.

[Moondog55]

I wouldn't worry, it happens naturally when you hit the old Hawaiian birthday