Could You Walk Better?

The subconscious mind does not like to share its control. I am grateful that I don’t have to remember to take 23,000 breaths every day, but it is good to check-in with the breath. The same holds true for walking.

Who thinks they walk well? Most people don’t think about walking, but that’s a trick the subconscious mind plays. The subconscious will not allow the many jobs it does for the body to be questioned by your conscious thoughts. If you were not aware of this fact, just try to consciously think about each step. The subconscious mind will take over and your thoughts will wander. As long as you can get from point A to point B, you believe everything is fine. Take a minute to look in the mirror and do a gait analysis. You must look ahead to see your reflexion, but notice what your posture is like when you are outside walking?

What can improve my gait? Maintain healthy body alignment. If the spine is aligned the head will rest comfortably. For every inch the head moves forward on the shoulders, the weight increases by 10 pounds. That is a heavy bowling ball for your neck to carry around, but people keep looking down at the ground when walking.  Texting puts about 40 pounds of pressure on the neck and shoulders.  The subconscious never complains, it just keeps everything moving even if it causes problems. Watch James Bond walk into a room, perfect alignment and his relaxed arms swing confidently. You can only fix what you can see.

Where did this walking problem start? The resourceful cells in the body will rob Peter to pay Paul. Your subconscious is like a computer and its focus is to keep you living, breathing and moving. If you have ever hurt your foot, even a tiny splinter can affect your gait. If there was a problem with the legs, hips or back you unknowingly compensated other parts of your body to keep moving. The splinter can be removed and the old injury may have healed but your body continues the walking pattern it adopted for you. There are many possibilities that could lead to your unique gait, even wearing a pair of shoes that didn’t fit properly. It is hard to trace back to the trigger points, but you can now notice if you are favoring one side, pronating your feet, limping, etc. The subconscious does not correct the gait after the injured part has healed. The default system needs updates from your conscious mind to stay balanced.

When can the subconscious brain upgrade? Any time you think about it. Your conscious thoughts understand all the benefits of walking well, but the subconscious only focuses on getting there. In order to reboot, you must think of each step until the subconscious feels how much better it is for the whole body when you are walking well. As soon as the subconscious feels more energy and muscles functioning without pain, it will update the operating system. Your new default will be walking well. If you struggle with remembering to consciously think of each step, Balance Walking can help you reboot your system. When you use Balance Walking, the body will effortlessly walk in perfect alignment. You don’t have to consciously think about it and the subconscious will feel the body naturally lined up from head to toe. You are the upper management in there, get the subconscious working at peak performance.

Why take the time to work on walking well?  When you walk in alignment, using your glutes to move you forward, you feel lighter and energized. When our bones are aligned our muscles are at their correct length, so the heart doesn’t have to work as hard to force blood through tight muscles. When you start walking in alignment you will increase blood flow to all areas of the body. Don’t let your subconscious sabotage your exercising efforts because if you are leaning forward while walking you are creating stress in the joints with every step you take. If those weren’t enough good reasons to remember to walk well, know that aligning will engage your core muscles so that the feet and legs are not doing all the work, this makes exercise easy and enjoyable. Go Balance Walking Until Walking Well Is Your New Good Habit. See for yourself how easy it is to Reboot Your System to Walk Well. It only becomes a new good habit if you remember to do it, so start Balance Walking today and don’t ever stop.