We must walk in some of the footprints left by our ancient ancestors.
We will have to live our present time, to walk through modernity with amplitude on those ancient footprints, that is to say, imitating and repeating -as far as possible- our ancient ancestors, in terms of:
1. Movement and physical dynamism: Walking.
2. The perception of light and darkness: circadian rhythms.
3. Solitude and sociability: Authenticity.
4. Silence and noise: Tranquility and self-esteem.
5. The Absorbing Society: The Here and the Now.
6. Nature forgotten: Walking barefoot.
7. Stress: Lack of time.
8. Vital instincts: Playing without competing.
9. Sedentary lifestyle: Cellular self-generation.
10. Social conditioning: Personal self-realization
All of these are intimately related to our central theme of “walking”; however, there are others that we will also have to consider in order to continue to move forward in balance and well-being, such as food, education, technology, etc., which will have to be studied and observed separately, but with the same depth and seriousness.
We are the same human beings for 50,000 years; our genes are the same, so we must act accordingly. We said in Post HOMO-ITER: MAN WALKER. PART II: “We pointed out, in a general way, how the human being has been abandoning the practice of walking throughout the last 10,000 years, having been, since the most remote times, a perfect walker in his erectus and nomadic characteristic”.
By complying with the 5 fundamental principles of the WALK-RWD System we will achieve attunement with our genetic structure of homo sapiens; thus we will be stepping on the footprints left by our ancient ancestors.
We are almost genetically the same beings, but we do not act in the same way. We are sedentary, as we hardly walk any more; during the day we shelter from the sunlight; at night we place ourselves under artificial lights; we have various social conditioning that lead us down unhealthy paths; and a long etcetera that have distanced us from the ancestral practices that led us along healthy paths.
We also said in that Post: “…the man of the future will perhaps be the HOMO-ITER (walking man), the one who will be more aware that he must now replace some means of transport, to go back to walking, and other activities that he carries out standing he must start to practice walking, and others that he carries out sitting, he must develop them standing and/or walking”.
In Post BODY PARTS FOR WALKING – THEIR CARE, we said that to take care of our body it is necessary to listen to it and we also mentioned this present Post that just by walking, following our own footprints, we could improve its physical state and heal it (WALK-RWD System, p. 502*).
We can consider that this present Post is a complement of Post RHYTHM, COMPASS AND CADENCE IN OUR JOURNEY-WALKING, regarding the health stage, through the application of the WALK-RWD System. We will be able to better appreciate how the System works to reach that healthy stage and also as a preventive mechanism of diseases, through the application of its 5th Principle that is formulated from its implementation, as well as the practice of the rest of the Principles of the System.
In the mentioned Post we present a scheme where you can appreciate two essential stages that are reached with the System: HEALTH and IDEAS, and precisely the trinomial that gives it its name, are the substructures on which our body relies to radiate health and creativity: Rhythm, compass and cadence. These 3 dynamic sources feed the physical, mental, spiritual and emotional body.
This cadence or time span that we employ (use, apply, make use of, serve) when we walk has been learnt over millions of years.
The 1st and 4th Principles guide us to keep a position when we walk. Our limbs must be exercised with respect to our natural vertical axis and in an upright position.
The efficacy of Principles 2 and 3 of the System, procures a better brain functioning, as it generates a better thinking by entering into a structural instability and maintaining its dynamic equilibrium. In Posts THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM ENCOURAGE CREATIVE THINKING. PART I; THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM AND COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE, we have exposed that the WALK-RWD system favors the creation of ideas (and other cerebral and mental benefits) by means of the application of these 2 principles, the 2nd and 3rd.
The 5th Principle is the one that defines and applies in a more direct way the HEALING of our body, generating also, by itself, the prevention of illnesses.
Thus, the WALK-RWD System provides HEALTH, when walking by applying this 5th principle, which guides the people who apply it, to enter in accordance with their own rhythm and cadence, while walking.
5th Principle or Principle of Rhythm, Compass and Cadence.
“Every individual has a Rhythm, Compass (Beat) and Cadence of his own, he only has to discover, apply and maintain them while walking”.
Let’s take a closer look at how the WALK-RWD System works in terms of health irradiation and disease prevention.
The oxymoron expressed in the title of this Post leads us down the path of two apparently contradictory words.
The word sound should be conceived as the resonance that echoes in our body, both physically and mentally, the benefits of walking. And not only walking but all the other elements of healing and satisfaction that are structured in the WALK-RWD System. Walking generates a vibration in our whole body and mind.
Silent refers to the way the system operates. We do not seem to hear its gifts. Regarding the physical part, it proceeds (operates, intervenes) with marginal effects on our body, and therefore we must always wait for a peremptory time to appreciate its achievements, and for them to accumulate, although in the emotional and sensitive aspect the responses are immediate. When we take a walk, we immediately begin to feel healthy, physically and emotionally; we feel better about ourselves. It is difficult to find anything similar that has such effective and immediate results in terms of feeling good.
The WALK-RWD System, through walking, generates healthy and healing “energetic vibrations” that spread throughout the body, flowing to all organs, systems and glands, which in turn impact the brain of the person who practices it (Post RHYTHM, COMPASS AND CADENCE IN OUR JOURNEY-WALKING; Future Posts ENJOYING OUR PERCUSSIVE MUSICAL WALKING; THE PERSONALITY DEFINED BY THE RHYTHM WHEN WALKING). The same can be said of the transmission of energy we receive from the ground, when walking barefoot (Post WALKING BAREFOOT. PART I; and Future Post WALKING WITH SHOES AND WITHOUT SHOES. PART II).
Although there is no solid scientific evidence to support this claim that, when walking, the human body generates energetic vibrations, it certainly produces and responds to various forms of energy, such as electrical flow in the nervous system and biochemical signals that regulate various functions. However, talk of internally generated waves of some kind that may have curative or preventive effects on health is not supported by the scientific community.
The movement generated by walking produces in the physical body a transmission of energy that is transferred to all its organs, systems and glands.
Walking is a physical activity that involves the mechanical movement of muscles and the body in general. During this activity, the body uses energy in the form of burning nutrients, especially carbohydrates and fats, to provide the necessary energy to the muscles and systems involved in the movement. This energy is produced primarily through aerobic metabolism, which involves the use of oxygen to break down nutrients and generate energy in the form of ATP (Adenosine TriPhosphate: an organic molecule that acts as the main source of chemical energy in the cells of living organisms).
In the scientific community, when referring to the activity of walking and its effect on the body, it is more common to mention the metabolic and physiological processes that are generated during this exercise, such as increased blood flow, oxygen transport, liberation of neurotransmitters, among others.
Notwithstanding this scientific position, it is incontrovertible that there is this “vibrational energy” or “energetic waves” that are generated towards the organs, systems and glands of the whole body, when we walk.
Surely in the near future it will be observed scientifically that every human body has its own RHYTHM, COMPASS AND CADENCE when walking, which makes it characteristic of each individual. A personal and distinctive way of walking.
Let us seek, analyze and find our own walking and in doing so we will discover our own resonance that will echo in our body, both physically and mentally. We will not hear anything, but our being will immediately begin to feel better in our soul. Let us continue to walk in the FOOTSTEPS OF OUR ANCESTORS, leaving our own footprints every day, with our own characteristic and personal Rhythm, Compass and Cadence. Let us become the HOMO-ITER of the future (Posts HOMO-ITER: MAN-WALKER. PART I; ..HOMO-ITER: MAN-WALKER. PART II).
(*)Loya Lopategui, Carlos, WALK-RWD SYSTEM, EMULISA, México, 2022. Distributed by Amazon, available in Kindle Edition.