The WALK-RWD System is structured with the 3 activities of reading, writing and drawing to boost the cognitive function of the human being. In the same way that I have pointed out that creative thinking is increased, enriched and flourishes substantially with the practice of this System, performing any of the 3 structured activities of reading, writing and drawing, while walking, generates in the brain an enlargement in mental capacity that facilitates and enhances learning.
It is very important to point out what we mean by creative thinking and cognitive performance. Both functions -the creative and the cognitive- are intimately correlated in mental performance within the brain organ, in a wide and subtle network of relationships with other physiological systems.
In Post, THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM ENCOURAGES CREATIVE THINKING. PART I, I have already described and explained -in a basic and preparatory way- how the WALK-RWD System stimulates creative thinking, as a fundamental function of our brain. Brain Cognitive Functions are commonly identified with the activities of the general concept of learning, however, they are much more complex than that mental performance.
To be able to abound in their scope and understanding, we will group them in 5 organic-mental capacities:
- Reasoning is the mental activity that allows us to think, reflect and meditate, functions that flow; [Developing and Expanding Reasoning].
- Memory is the mental function that facilitates learning, repeating, remembering, and forgetting; [Increasing and Improving Memory].
- Attention enables curiosity, observation, analysis, interest, and distraction; [Directing and Controlling Attention].
- Speaking allows us to talk, dialogue, express, communicate, explain, articulate, listen, respond, and be silent; [Enriching and Perfecting Communication and Listening]; and
- Behavior enables us to regulate and control behavior and attitudes; [Orienting, Regulating and Redirecting Behavior].
Before moving on to the topic of how to stimulate and increase our cognitive performance, I would like to point out the functional modules into which the human being is divided.
The functional modules into which we can differentiate the human being can be seen in the following scheme:
Our topic is located in the MENTAL functional component of the human being, and as an introduction I would like to describe some important aspects about the functions of the brain.
The brain is the main organ of the Central Nervous System, coordinating and regulating most of the functions of the mind and body. These functions under its control are of 4 types: a) Higher Functions, such as reasoning, thinking, memorizing, attention, speaking, creativity, imagination, perception, decision making, intellectual intelligence, emotional intelligence, emotional behavior; b) Vital Functions, such as heart rate, breathing, digestion; c) Essential Functions, such as sleeping, sexual arousal, sweating, hunger; and d) Secondary Functions, such as yawning, sneezing.
The Higher Functions develop in the brain itself, in each and every one of its cranial sections; in the encephalon, cerebellum, its hemispheres, lobes, hypothalamus; of all of them, the cognitive functions are surely the most important ones that develop in the human brain.
Higher Mental Functions develop in the cerebral lobes being an important part of the cerebral cortex. Of all of them, the cognitive functions are considered transcendental because thanks to them the human being can adequately perform the activities of reasoning, memorizing, speaking and behaving in the external physical environment and in society in general.
As we have already mentioned, the cognitive function of the human being is located in the MENTAL component and this Post is directed to how to stimulate and increase this fundamental function of the brain.
I must state that any mental function we wish to promote will be interrelated with the rest of the other functions of the mind; therefore, we will try to differentiate the cognitive ones in order to better understand and apply the WALK-RWD System, in terms of the procedure and its inherent actions. In the same way, it is important to point out the differences that exist between the creative (Post THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM ENCOURAGES CREATIVE THINKING. PART I; Future Post THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM, CREATIVE IMAGINATION AND INSPIRATION (inventiveness and intuition) and the cognitive.
Creative thinking (being able to imagine, devise and create, and being able to generate and foster creation), which is also part of the mental component, giving rise to the function of creativity (ability to be pristine creative) has already been analyzed in Post THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM ENCOURAGES CREATIVE THINKING. PART I, and we will continue to analyze it in Future Post THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM STIMULATES CREATIVE THINKING. PART II, analytical and evaluative work that will be easier for us, both in its development and in its understanding because we will have presented in this Post what the cognitive function consists of.
The brain carries out, in an interrelated way, the 5 cognitive functions that we have pointed out: reasoning (thinking, reflecting, meditating); memorizing (learning, repeating, remembering, forgetting); attention (curiosity, observation, analysis, interest, distraction); speaking (talking, dialoguing, expressing, communicating, explaining, articulating, listening, responding, keeping quiet); and behavior (regulation and control of behavior, attitudes).
In general, these cognitive functions allow us to react appropriately to stimuli and external agents, and they are all interrelated.
We must clearly define what we mean by cognition and what is cognitive performance. Cognition is the action and result of having knowledge of something, and cognitive performance is the mental capacity to possess knowledge, and not only to possess it but also to get it, keep it (but not immobilize it), master it, enjoy it, use it and benefit from it. As we can observe, our objective of achieving a cognitive performance, represents more complicated and elaborated mental PERFORMANCES AND TASKS than the simple purpose of possessing knowledge by any means, which the System technique provides us with by reading, writing and drawing.
As we have already expressed in several previous posts, the mental functions are encouraged, strengthened and ablated in different ways according to the positions of the body. Let us see the extent and mechanisms of this.
There is no doubt that there is a differentiated expression and physical results for the activities that we develop due to the different positions in which we place our body, whether sitting, lying down or standing, and each of these with its unique variants. Sitting can be on the floor, on a chair or on any other medium. Lying down can be on the floor, or on a hammock, a bed or any device that can be used for it; and finally we can be upright in a static state (stationary, immobile) or in movement, the latter could be walking (slow, fast) or running (slow, fast).
Custom, tradition and our physical and mental capacities have oriented us to perform certain activities more in one position than the other.
The activities of writing and drawing are mainly performed seated and on a desk or any other suitable medium, since we need to place the sheets of paper on a firm, flat surface.
Reading has always been done either sitting down, placing the document on a flat surface or holding it in our hands, or lying down, which allows us to be comfortable reading it and holding it in our hands.
Sitting seems to be more appropriate for reading, writing and drawing, and more so if we are interested in doing some other activity in parallel. However, according to my personal experience, which I do not oppose anything to these comforts, doing these 3 activities while walking generates a stimulus to my brain capacities in many and varied ways. One of them is in the cognitive aspect, which is part of the mental functions that are generated in the brain.
I have no doubt when I need to develop certain physical activities simultaneously, which do not require greater mental or intellectual effort; it is convenient to do it sitting or standing in a stationary manner. The same happens when you need to perform a delicate task such as drawing, where skill and care are very important in its optimal development and quality.
Regarding drawing, let us remember what we have said about it: “About drawing what we wish to transmit is that we can all emit and communicate ideas and thoughts that are differentiated from words and verbal labels. That is, to the extent that we can separate our thoughts, ideas, concepts, knowledge, manifested in our mind as words or oral messages, and only represent them as images or drawings, to that degree we will be fulfilling our objective. Note that in no case we have asked or suggested to draw something that is traditionally requested when teaching the techniques of drawing, to represent objects of reality, the more perfect and precise we achieve it -it is said- the better qualification we will have in this gift of drawing. However, our task with this Integral System is not that”.
Thus, the only thing we need to do is to draw the graphic images that come to our mind, forgetting about perfection, for which we do not need to be seated. We can do it by walking.
So we do not need to sit or stand statically to be able to read, write or draw, we can do it walking.
In short, we can say that movement (walking) and our posture (sitting, lying down or standing) have direct effects on cognition and creativity.
This is how the System in its multiple practice, with the 3 structured activities of reading, writing and drawing, we can potentiate these 5 composite cognitive functions, as well as their cognitive performance. The latter is the result that is obtained when we perform walks conjugated with any of the 3 structured activities within the System, since it generates greater capacities of understanding, comprehension, development, lucidity, discernment, reasoning, sharpness, penetration, harmony, ingenuity, in each and every one of these 3 activities. The senses, both external and internal, are sharpened when we walk and perform simultaneously any of these 3 activities.
By way of resolution regarding the different positions that our body can have and their different cognitive effects -in addition to the creative ones-, we can say:
Reading sitting is not the same as reading walking.
Writing while sitting is not the same as writing while walking.
Drawing while sitting is not the same as drawing while walking.
We could even predict that it increases intelligence, both mental (intellectual) and emotional. We could also venture to say that if we do a walk associated with more than one of the 3 structured activities, it is more beneficial to the performance and development of cognitive function.
Now we can move on to develop the main theme of this post: How to stimulate and increase our cognitive performance.
We have already mentioned that the coordinated movement that is generated in walking causes the brain to produce various substances (ENDOCRINE SYSTEM) such as Endorphins, Catecholamines, Adrenaline, Enzymes, Pheromones, Glycogen, Immunoglobin, Interferons, Lymphocytes, Myoglobin, Neurotrophins, etc., (Post THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM AND THE SELF-PRODUCTION OF ORGANIC SUBSTANCES), which in turn stimulate the development and full functioning of neurons, considerably increasing the number of connections between them and the functional areas of the brain itself.
I want to emphasize that all the development that will be exposed on the concept of “stimulating cognitive function” can and can be used in the same way to positively impact the other brain functions.
We must also take into account that the practices that we will point out from this moment on, are performed while walking. And furthermore, that the 5 groups of the organic-mental capacities that are performed within the cognitive function, are performed in a shared, concurrent and simultaneous way, usually without a specific differentiation between them, however, our practices are recommended to raise their performance in these functional groups:
1. Developing and Expanding Reasoning.
2. Increasing and Improving Memory
3. Directing and Controlling Attention
4. Enriching and Perfecting Communication and Listening
5. Orienting, Regulating and Redirecting Behavior.
Some of these aspects have been dealt with in previous posts and we only have to refer to them (Post UPDATED DYNAMIC INDEX OF POSTS 1-120); however, and unfortunately others are dealt with in future posts and we will have to await their publication.
In the cases we have already dealt with, we will only give some concrete ideas of their application. For the treatment by future posts we will indicate approximately the date when we will publish that practice.
Developing and Expanding Reasoning
This function has also been pointed out and qualified as Creative Cognition (CC), that is, it is the capacity we have to apprehend with effective imagination and creativity, relying on more efficient models to do so.
Mobility is a cognitive mechanism, as it drives thinking, reflecting, meditating, as well as comprehension, understanding, lucidity, discernment, acuity, penetration and ingenuity, functions that are enhanced by combining walking with the 3 structured activities within the WALK-RWD System, reading, writing and drawing.
Posts already published and to be published that relate this group of cognitive function:
Post THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM ENCOURAGES CREATIVE THINKING. PART I
Future Post: THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM, CREATIVE IMAGINATION AND INSPIRATION (inventive and intuitive) (March 2024)
Future post: THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM AND THE ANTAGONIC CHARACTER OF THOUGHT (2025)
Future Post: BRAIN GYMNASTICS WHILE WALKING-EXERCISES (April 2023)
Future Post: WALK-RWD SYSTEM ENCOURAGES CREATIVE THINKING. PART II (September 2023).
Future post: EXERCISES ON COGNITIVE SENSE USING THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM (2025).
Increasing and Improving Memory
There is no doubt that walking generates an increase in memory and therefore in cognition and learning.
Posts already published and yet to be published that relate this group of cognitive function:
Future post: THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM AND MEMORY, WEAKNESS AND DISORDERS. YOUR ATTENTION. (2024)
Future Post: THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM AND THE EXERCISES ON MEMORY (2025)
Future Post: BRAIN GYMNASTICS WHILE WALKING-EXERCISES (April 2023)
Future Post: THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM AND EXERCISES ON MEMORY (2024)
Future Post: EXERCISES ON COGNITIVE SENSE USING THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM (2025)
Directing and Controlling Attention
In this section we look at how to improve the difficulty we have in directing and controlling our attention and our thoughts on any given subject, topic or object.
The mere fact of standing up causes a state of alertness in our brain that awakens other neuro-physiological systems that increase our attention. Mostly we achieve this when we start walking and even more if we start reading, writing or drawing. The movement of our body impels the brain to put itself on “guard”. You will get closer to beneficial things and move away from dangerous things.
Posts already published and to be published that relate this group of cognitive function:
Post RELAXATION AND CONCENTRATION WITH THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM.
Future post: THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM AND CONCENTRATION. PART II (2025)
Future Post: WALKING AND THE STOICS (2024)
Future post: THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM AND Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) (2025)
Future Post: BRAIN GYMNASTICS WHILE WALKING-EXERCISES (April 2023)
Future post: EXERCISES ON COGNITIVE SENSE USING THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM (2025).
Future Post: EXERCISES ON THE EMPTY OR VACUUM SENSES USING THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM (2026)
Enriching and Perfecting Communication and Listening
Many of our intellectual-linguistic inabilities come from an inner refusal to listen to our peers, to our own body, even to obvious elements of the animal and plant kingdom. In this field we seek to improve these incapacities to enrich and perfect our communication towards the outside world and improve our wrong way of listening.
Posts already published and to be published that relate this group of cognitive function:
Post LISTENING TO OUR BODY WHILE WALKING.
Post THE WALK AND THE LACK OF TIME-PART I
Future Post: EMPIRISM OR THINKING WITH OUR FEET (2024)
Future Post: WALKING AND THE WAYS OF FREEDOM (2025)
Future Post: EXERCISES ON COGNITIVE SENSE USING THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM (2025)
Future Post: EXERCISES ON APPROXIMATION AND HUMAN CONTACT, THROUGH WALKING (2025)
Future Post: EXERCISES OF THE SENSE OF EMPTY OR VACUUM THROUGH THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM (2026)
Orienting, Regulating and Redirecting Behavior
In a dynamic way we are permanently apprehending from the external world, and this makes us redesign our behavioral model before the physical and social environment. In fact, just walking after a long period of sitting changes our attitude towards others. Walking at a normal speed and then slowing down our walking speed generates new information that we receive and affects our behavior. It is an incontrovertible fact that a person who has not exercised in the mornings -for example- walking and suddenly begins to walk daily, produces in him molecular changes and leads to a change of behavior and this to changes in his personality.
Posts already published and to be published that relate this group of cognitive function:
Post WALKING AND FREE TIME. PART II
Future Post: WALKING TOWARD THE CONCEPT OF FREEDOM. PART I. (2024)
Future Post: WALKING, BEHAVIOR AND CHARACTER. (2025)
Future Post: ROUTINE, CONDUCT, BEHAVIOR AND CUSTOMS. (2026)
Future Post: NEW MODEL FOR WALKING: FREEDOM AND LEISURE. PART III (2026)
Future Post: EXERCISES ON COGNITIVE SENSE USING THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM (2025).
Future Post: EXERCISES ON APPROXIMATION AND HUMAN CONTACT, THROUGH WALKING (2026).
Future Post: EXERCISES OF THE SENSE OF EMPTY OR EMPTY FEELING THROUGH THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM (2026)
As can be observed in the previous program, there are many future posts where we expose certain practices for the attention of these mental functions and human behavior, however, all of them -with specific exercises and recommendations- are always performed by walking in a natural way, with the exception of the routines that are recommended in the cerebral gymnastics that we experience walking out of the normal; so while we wait for your publications throughout the months, let’s start walking in a natural way, and with this we will have attended -practically and effectively- all these mental functions and our attitudes and personal behavior, printing them an excellent quality by walking, of increase, advance, improvement, development and perfection.