Tag: walking

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Parkmerced: unique San Francisco living

I always lived on the ocean side of San Francisco, in the Richmond, the Sunset, and Parkmerced. All had their beautiful aspects, but Parkmerced was my favorite location by far.

I felt like it was a close as one could get to living in a major city without feeling like you lived in the city.

By J. Ash Bowie

It was wonderful for walking and felt more like a community than the more typical city neighborhoods.

By J. Ash Bowie

I’m convinced that living in Parkmerced helped me maintain my equilibrium as a freelance musician coping with irregular hours while driving to gigs throughout the greater Bay Area.

I hear they’re making big changes there now. Oh well. I’m just grateful it was the calm and serene environment I needed all those years ago.

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Blame it on the heat

Unless I’ve had a definite appointment, this past week has seen me mostly holing up at home.

I’ve made it a point to get up early enough to walk every morning while temperatures are still fairly cool. But other than that I’ve alternated between catching up on paperwork and emails with reading my book and sweating. 😳

In fact, I’ve been feeling slightly antisocial and I really do think the heat is mostly to blame.

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Forest bathing

Although there’s been quite a lot written and said about forest bathing in the last few years, it’s not something I paid much attention to — other than vaguely thinking it was a good thing.

But this past week I’ve been getting back into a walking routine, going slightly farther each day. And as I went far enough this morning to actually relax and tune into my surroundings more deeply, I suddenly became aware that I was doing a version of forest bathing!

In fact, I live right in the forest, so every time I leave my home I can be forest bathing…if I’m consciously aware of doing so.

Of course, when I went to read more about forest bathing *, I learned that the recommended length for a forest bath is two hours.

Well, maybe I’ll save that for special occasion forest baths!

[* Click here for an article in Time magazine by Dr. Qing Li, the author of Forest Bathing: How Trees Can Help You Find Health and Happiness.]

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Beauty as my reward

Lately I’ve been trying to get out and walk more, without much success.

But this evening I finally did it and was treated to these scenes of astral beauty featuring the new moon.

It definitely felt like my reward for following through on my commitment to myself.

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The joy of walking

Gosh, it feels great to once again be walking at my normal pace.

I was being very careful the first week after the AFib incident, as I didn’t want to trigger another episode. But this second week I’ve been gradually adding distance and the pace has been picking up quite naturally, without me even thinking about it.

And today finally felt absolutely normal. Yay!

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Walking the neighborhood

I’m getting back into a walking routine — building momentum before next week’s bone marrow transplant — and really enjoying the variety of charming sights in the neighborhood.

From little fairytale houses to unfamiliar trees to canine rest stops, it’s all quite delightful.

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Walking in the dark

My walk had to happen later than ever today. It was early evening, but already full dark.

Still beautiful, though.

I simply walked laps around the Rajarsi Park circle, so I didn’t have to worry about tripping over anything in the low visibility. That way I also didn’t worry (too much) about running into nocturnal critters. 😄

But look how bright that star is in the night sky (I think it must be Jupiter)!

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Walking in the twilight

For most of my life, I’ve struggled to feel “safe” in the world.

It’s not as bad as it used to be, though I still can’t even begin to imagine walking around our rural community by myself after dark.

But recently, my renewed commitment to getting my walk in every day has caused me to push against my self-imposed boundaries.

This is because I’ve had a series of days with early meetings or appointments in town, meaning I miss my morning walk. Then I get to working and before I know it, it’s late afternoon and getting dark. But rather than miss my walk altogether, I head on out.

Of course, the thing is that I love the quiet, peaceful energy of twilight, so I’m actually beginning to enjoy walking in the “almost dark.”

The sky was so beautiful right at the end of tonight’s walk, I had to try and capture it in a photo. Don’t know if you can see the bright star off to the left, but it was absolutely magical.

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Rocking the BP!

Yes Seth Meyers GIF - Yes Seth Meyers Fist Pump GIFs

Today I had a follow-up doctor’s appointment to review my labs and MRI. There are a few things that need further investigation, but blood pressure was NOT one of them.

Even after going off the meds in September and my recent month-long “eating rebellion” and some weeks of inconsistent walking, my reading this afternoon was 102/64!

Yeah, I think it’s pretty clear that high blood pressure is no longer my issue.

YES!

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Getting back to caring for myself

Beautiful leaves on this morning’s walk

One day of fasting and one morning back to walking, and I feel completely transformed!

And that’s after a good three weeks of whooping it up (food-wise), while walking less and less until I had stopped altogether for about a week.

It’s amazing what my mind can put me through in times like that. It wants me to believe I’ve been “bad” forever; that I’ve probably undone all the good of the previous months; that it’s going to be really hard to start walking or fasting or eating well again.

Well, absolutely none of that was true (take that, lizard mind!).

Fasting was easier than ever; it felt ever so good to walk this morning; and I’ve slipped back into my eating program without a single hitch — no cravings, no resistance, no nothing.

What gives?

Well, I think part of it is that just the intention of getting back on track was wholeheartedly embraced by my entire being as a return to self-love. It’s like everything in me relaxed with a big “Aahhh, we’re being cared for the way we like.”

And the speed with which my body responded to my return to fasting, walking, and eating better, tells me just how happy doing these things makes me on a physical level.

My body didn’t have to re-adapt. It was simply ready and waiting for me to turn back around and head in the right direction.