This post tries to respond – in a certain way and in a concise manner- to what may be being generated in the deepest substrates of the mental structures of human beings, by limiting them in their early age, to move as they normally do since they start walking. I am referring to the new paradigm that may be being shaped by the prevailing circumstances, worldwide, as a result of the 2020-2021 health contingency.
Children all over the world have been induced to stay confined within 4 walls, because they are forced to stay at home to avoid contagion. The best case scenario has been when they have been allowed to return to school, but they are also restricted because they are not allowed to go out for recreation; that is, they are kept in almost complete immobility.
Very probably that final stage that I have pointed out in the posts CHRONICLE OF A DISAPPEARANCE ANNOUNCED IN THE PLEISTOCENE, HOMO-ITER: MAN-WALKER. PART I, ..HOMO-ITER: MAN-WALKER. PART II, HOMO-LECTOREM AND HOMO-ESCRIPTOREM, in which the human being hardly walks anymore and has been atrophying in some physical and other mental functions, in addition to the decay he has suffered in his own immune system and self-repair and adjustment of ailments, affections and diseases, which he can no longer face as he did some centuries or millennia ago, because he has become a 99 percent sedentary being, depending exclusively on medicines.
According to the statistics we have been able to gather, 93% of children – in the cities – who should go to school, are now at home, and only 7% worldwide have the space to take a few steps outside. Of this -urban- minimum percentage, only ½ percent can enjoy a walk beyond a 300 square-feet garden.
The question we ask ourselves is: What will be the consequences for the human race of continuing to reduce its walking from the early years? We already know -and we have already commented- that these consequences have a physical scope, but above all a functional organic and mental, intellectual, emotional and psychological one, such as the increase of depression due to the omission of this basic activity of walking.
For the moment, we cannot answer this question with numerical certainty, however, we are already beginning to obtain some objective results in the research and responses that are being recorded in various regions of the world.
# 569. ANCIANO EL TIEMPO
We can remember Ivan Illich in his acclaimed thesis: A world without schools. But he never said a world without walking. Illich proposed to give more responsibility to the human being so that he could learn according to his needs. He proposed an unschooling -considering it imminent- that would give human beings the true sense of responsibility in this line of teaching-learning; and he said that the individual could -under this new system- teach and learn within his physical and mental needs. Unfortunately, he did not opine anything about walking; in post WALKING THROUGH STREET FORESHORTENINGS, I mention my book Pueblo Quieto (*), although I was already ahead in post WHAT WOULD GREAT THINKERS RESPOND ABOUT WALKING?, in the month of April 2019, what Ivan might have thought about this fundamental function of the human being, in relation to educational centers; I put in Illich’s voice, the following sarcastic question: “Should I attend some course in order to walk, or enroll in a school?”
Without wishing to be alarmist, the disappearance of the human being on the face of the Earth is already announced, and not precisely because of wars or viruses, in a peremptory term, due to the fact that his walking has been drastically reduced, almost to zero, now with greater intensity since his childhood.
This decrease and limitation, which has been minimizing the essential function of walking in the human being, which was the fundamental cause of the emergence of HOMO SAPIENS SAPIENS -according to the evolutionist theory- post CHRONICLE OF A DISAPPEARANCE ANNOUNCED IN THE PLEISTOCENE, where we mentioned: “Very probably this transformation in the feet that we observe, is the one that allowed Homo Sapiens to place itself in a superior position with respect to the rest of the animals, but above all above mammals and its hominid brethren”. Its erect position and its feet were the essential things that made a hominid, 2 million years ago, to develop as HOMO SAPIENS SAPIENS, according to the developmentalist theory, becoming the current human being.
# 1111. ETAPAS DE LA VIDA, 9 DE 10
L E T U S W A L K holding the hand of that hominid who, a long time ago, showed us the path we should take.
(*) Loya Lopategui, Carlos, Pueblo Quieto. Las caídas de la Libertad, EMULISA, Mexico, 2015.
We already said in Post EMOTIONS AND THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM that emotions can be of the positive or pleasant and negative or unpleasant type, and something very significant about them is that they can become the cause of various diseases.
The power of emotions is intimately linked to the power of hormones. Hormonal (glandular) functioning directly affects the emotional reactions of the human being. This close relationship is explained in future posts THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM AND THE STRESS HORMONES, THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM AND THE HORMONES OF HAPPINESS and WALKING AND THE HORMONE CHANGE EVERY 7 YEARS, which describe the incidence of walking on the human glandular system. Here we will only analyze and consider its emotional effects.
Besides this great categorization, of positive and negative, the acceptably “healthy” human being, of adult age, is a complex and continuous whole of slight emotions – in one extreme – and powerful – in another extreme: Simple and Complex, Tenuous and Acute, Weak and Strong, Hesitant and Firm; from the Lightest to the Most Powerful threshold.
The sum in time occupied by the emotions classified in the first extreme, represent 95% of our attention (SLIGHT EMOTIONS); while the remaining 5% of the time (POWERFUL EMOTIONS), correspond to those classified in the second postulation, the other extreme.
On those that occupy our greater time we can have a great and better control over them; while those that occupy the 5%, are much more difficult to govern. However, we can consider that all of them are not invincible (that none of them is invincible).
We could have titled this post “Human emotions and ‘how’ to control them” or “Knowing ‘how’ to express emotions better”. Let’s see why.
First of all, we must know “how” to control them, to be able to act in a timely manner and thus keep ourselves balanced. That is to say, to make an effort and act on the extreme of the POWERFUL EMOTIONS.
Knowing “how” is not easy. However, a recipe for having an acceptable mental health is not to repress them 100%, but to know “how” to release them subtly and comfortably (Future Post AUTOLIBERATION OF NEGATIVE EMOTIONS THROUGH SELF-SUGGESTIONABILITY).
This liberation is equivalent to the “control” that we must have over them, fundamentally over those of the 2nd nature (category) less controllable (regulable).
This inner struggle that occurs between those emotions that harm us and the positive emotions that can even heal us, is linked to the spiritual part of the human being, where many religions have explained them -or have mentioned them- as vices and virtues, depending on the rooting that one or the other manifests in the being. With this we want to express that the human being requires a catharsis that leads him to unburden the negative that is in his being in a way that does not affect him or other people; since all emotions lead to actions and reactions, positive or negative. This need for catharsis is as evident as I explain it in a novel way in my book God Goes to Psychiatrist, where we can appreciate that even a supreme being requires to analyze and clear his emotions (*).
Now, when we are under the influence of a negative emotion, we cannot feel or think about anything else but that harmful emotion. However, we must make an effort and go for a walk, because it has been demonstrated that the practice of walking restructures the nervous system, that which is formed by nerve cells (Future Posts THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM AND THE NERVOUS SYSTEM-THE NERVOUS-DEGENERATION and THE NERVOUS IMPULSE AND THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM), achieving to potentiate this nervous reconfiguration and its nervous-emotional healing effect by complementing the walk with the other 3 structured activities within the WALK-RWD system. This allows us to face the two sides of emotions, both the negative side (unpleasant emotions) and the powerful side (powerful emotions). For both aspects it is necessary to make immediate decisions.
It is necessary to make major efforts to combat negative emotions, because we are conscious -when we are under their dominion- that we do not want to do anything, but to think and feel about the evil and destructive emotion that dominates us (its negative essence and its powerful extreme).
However, if we decide to go for a walk for a moment, and start reading or simply contemplating nature, we will be able to distance ourselves from those thoughts and feelings that emanate from our uncontrolled emotions in a certain amount of time (10-20 minutes).
We must be aware – fully aware – that negative emotions by themselves will not allow us to free ourselves from their dominion, because that is precisely where they feed and self-generate, from our lacerated and dejected feelings. Let us break their powerful destructive chains, going for a walk, taking a good dip (DIP) in nature.
Just by walking, simply and simply, we manage to unblock the nervous tensions and release the accumulated emotions, and it works for both positive and negative emotions, of both stages; however, the ones we are most interested in controlling, expressing, releasing, discharging and not repressing, are the negative emotions.
In the future we will present different ways (methods) that through the practice of the WALK-RWD system will lead us to be able to EXPRESS THEM, CONTROL THEM, RELEASE THEM, DISCHARGE THEM and also NOT REPRIMIT THEM, according to the cases in which we are suffering the negative and powerful, uncontrolled emotions; these are:
Post AUTOLIBERATION OF NEGATIVE EMOTIONS THROUGH SELF-SUGGESTIBILITY” METHOD
Post PARADOXICAL EMOTIONAL PROGRAMMING
Post THE RELEASED EMOTION METHOD
(*) Loya Lopategui, Carlos, God Goes to Psychiatrist, EMULISA, 2021, Distributed by Amazon, available in Kindle Edition: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HVCWDNT.
The word resilience was taken by the science of Psychology from the technological branch “Strength of Materials”, which defines it as a rate that certain materials have to recover their original shape after having been subjected to deforming stresses; that is, those materials that are subjected to the effect of an external force bend up to a certain degree of deformation, without breaking, and can recover their original shape.
Steel is the typical case par excellence. It is common for a bar of this material to be tested under increased and accumulated stresses, to observe in the laboratory its resistance capacity up to failure, where it does not return to its initial position because it does not recover it, and that point defines the maximum resilience index of the steel bar.
Applied to human beings, resilience is the capacity they have to withstand the negative actions of the external environment (physical and social), and to be able to maintain an acceptable attitude regarding their emotional state. A capacity to be able to overcome these harmful external stimuli and still come out of them feeling encouraged and settled, both physically and psychically (psychological and emotional).
Some specialists include within the definition of resilience, the adaptation of the individual and his competitiveness, however, this consideration of both concepts should be analyzed and discussed regarding the validity of their incorporation.
By extension, we could also consider that a person with resilience capacity is one who is capable of making good sense of negative things and transforming harmful experiences into positive ones; in the same way, we could include those individuals who maintain their serenity and sanity in the midst of the “storm” that surrounds them, preserving their emotional balance.
In addition, I would like to mention that Homeostasis is a general principle that living beings have to regulate and rebalance their “internal milieu” and that allows the human being to maintain a stable physical and mental condition, within certain limits. In the future Post THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM AND HOMEOSTASIS, we will present this homeostatic capacity to give healthy responses by varying the functioning of the human body systems in an appropriate way for the stabilization of the physiological constants.
Now then, the WALK-RWD system, by means of its functional structure, allows us to acquire certain mental capacity to support, compensate and remedy the damages, disorders and adversities (damages, prejudices, deteriorations, mishaps, setbacks, grievances, annoyances, disturbances, alterations) generated by the negative external agents that affect us emotionally. Likewise, it provides us with a certain potential to advance satisfactorily towards the goals we have set for ourselves. In itself, the system allows us to achieve a great LONGANIMITY, that is to say, a strength, a balance and a spirit in the face of the different stumbling blocks, setbacks and adversities that are presented to us on a daily basis.
How do you provide and manage these mechanisms for the achievement of Resilience?
I will try to be synthetic, and I will refer to the posts where I have already mentioned it.
We can always refer to the respective posts, but I will briefly mention once again the help we can obtain by incorporating the WALK-RWD system in our daily actions.
In a concrete way it helps us to increase our physical, mental and emotional capacities to respond to the society before the problems that overwhelm us.
Of course, it helps us to affirm our physical, mental and emotional health, as well as to reach acceptable levels in the creation of new and better ideas that serve to solve some of those problems that worry or stress us, and also to achieve a satisfactory tranquility, the basis of all human behavior to achieve personal goals. It motivates and induces us to reach our goals.
An additional virtue of the system is that it provides us with assistance in eliminating bad habits and procrastination, as well as controlling negative emotions.
It helps us to know ourselves better – who I am and who I want to be – through its 3 structured activities (reading, writing and drawing), which in turn allows us to take better attitudes towards bad experiences.
I have been transmitting this WALK-RWD system from a small manual that I wrote in 2009, and the posts that I have written and published are the ones that have allowed me to expand this transmission of my personal experiences that have given me throughout my life to practice it, intensifying and perfecting it in several of its functional sections.
Further on, I mention the posts that I consider to be related with greater incidence in the topic of RESILIENCE, regarding some of its outstanding topics.
Each of the posts that serve as support contain the functional mechanisms that I myself have experienced in the application of the system with excellent results, so let’s not waste time. For our body -physical and psychic- to respond with resilience, we only have to select the convenient and adequate post -according to the topic we have to solve- that brings the practical and functional processes to apply the WALK-RWD system, according to the indications and procedures included. With the warning, that all the instructions contained in the WALK-RWD system, are designed within its functional and natural essence, which is walking; walking is always included in them.
Let us keep in mind, as Prometheus transmitted it to us in those mythical times, that the only unavoidable mission that we must carry out is: “To walk on the planet Earth“. The same can be said and assured, paraphrasing Ortega y Gasset: “Man has a mission to walk on earth. This mission has not been imposed by anyone or anything. He carries it within himself, it is the very root of his constitution”.
The following is a functional bridge-guide to transmit the aspects that can be improved by applying the WALK-RWD system for the achievement of resilience, by means of the mechanisms and methods that we have exposed through the blog posts, both present and future.
The aspects that can be remedied, improved and transformed, attending to the resilience capacity of the human organism, and through the application of the WALK-RWD system, are the following:
– Physical Body
– Mind-Brain
– Emotional
– Spiritual
– Psychological
For this reason, we point out below all the Posts that can be used to satisfy these aspects, as well as the topics and/or themes that are addressed to achieve resilience.
It is worth explaining that the anachronistic aspect that could be contemplated, when we point out: “both present and future”, is due to the fact that this guide will be updated as we publish new posts, through which we will have the opportunity to deal with other aspects and topics in the future; in other words, this post will permanently serve to apply the WALK-RWD system, according to the subsequent procedures that we will incorporate in new future posts.
To proceed and determine the post or posts to be used, we must have in mind the aspect we wish to attend to of our organism and the topic or theme related to resilience, and with it enter the following list, to select and go directly to the adequate procedure or method of resilience defined by the WALK-RWD system.
If you have already chosen a post -or several- that can help you, you will only have to select it so that you can follow the indications and the procedure indicated in it.
These exercises # 2 of pre-warm-up have different effects on other parts of the body and on additional specific movement systems, although there are similarities with Exercises # 1, proposed in a previous post (I.-PRE-HEATING EXERCISES: LEGS- BACK- WAIST). It is important that we perform several series of these exercises, because one aspect that is generated with the realization of exercises -whichever they are- is the constant repetition of them, which leads us to create a habit, which is positive; however, we must recognize if we begin to perceive monotony, to alternate them.
We recommend, for any type of walking, these Exercises # 2 of warm-up, although they are not essential. They can be performed according to each person’s needs and physical condition. One only, two of them or several.
We must also consider that each person can make some modifications to the exercises, according to their needs, their comfort and their unique way of adapting to them, in terms of duration, style and sequence; however, in generic terms, they should be performed as close as possible to what is specified, detailed and explained. Each individual has his own characteristics that guide him to perform the exercises in a very personal way, so it is difficult for everyone to perform them in the same way and it is practically impossible to put them into practice in an exact and identical way.
These and all the exercises that we recommend should be based on the fundamental principle that they should be performed in a harmonious way with respect to the vertical axis or alternating the 2 respective symmetrical limbs (Future Post THE SYMMETRY OF THE BODY, ITS BALANCE AND WALKING).
Walking is a natural exercise in the human being, so no warm-up is required. However, the following warm-up exercises are recommended for any type of walking, although they are not essential.
They can be performed according to the needs of each person and the physical state in which he/she is, as we said, only one, two or several of them.
As we have been able to point out, throughout the 100 published posts, the systemic structuring of the WALK-RWD method, allows great and numerous benefits in all the orders of the human condition, and one of the most important is that, its integral practice, is a coadjuvant in the personal fulfillment.
For this purpose, I will allow myself a definition of what we will understand by “personal fulfillment”. Regardless of the field to which it may refer, what is essential is the value that is given to it associated with our own self-esteem. This concept of “self-fulfillment” is oriented to the satisfaction that an individual must, should or could feel and think about what he has accomplished or could accomplish during a period of his existence. In this regard, of course, you can feel something positive but also negative issues, however, it is usually oriented to what results as a balance of this sensitive and intimate evaluation.
We say to ourselves: “I feel satisfied with what I have achieved up to this stage of my life”, or perhaps: “at my 40 years of age, I am not reaching the goals I set for myself”, and so on; some of us do not have clearly defined objectives and therefore our evaluations are not very quantifiable; but for other people the opposite happens, they have their annual goals specified and make their periodic evaluations based on them, in a precise manner.
It is a rather complex field to analyze and to put into practice, since we also get confused with some of the ways that society shows us as acceptable, or “indispensable” for personal achievement. All of them must be left aside, and we can only remain with our own ideas and authentic feelings. I always carry with me an aphorism that contrasts a lot about what society induces us to feel that we have succeeded: “Fame is the prize that society gives to the sleeping; it punishes the awakened ones”.
The WALK-RWD system leads us towards the improvement of our personal fulfillment. Its mechanisms are diverse and most of them are channeled to make the individual who practices it feel good, starting with the daily satisfaction of having been able to give attention to his body, both physically and mentally.
From those moments that are put into practice, the person will become aware that all his actions will be carried out satisfactorily, since he has started the day making the right decision to start walking and has carried it out, and therefore, the following decisions he will make will be easier for him.
It will generate a sensitivity and a sense that it will be more comfortable to affirm than to deny, and this will lead to acceptance of yourself and others around you.
As the first hours of the day progress, as he -or she- goes about his daily activities, with the positive decision making and actions that go with them, the various dilemmas and fears will dissipate. Some “bad companions” such as nervousness, anxiety, pessimism, procrastination will flee from him -or her-, so that in the middle of the day, he/she will be ready to perform even the unpleasant tasks. Apathy and tedium will be puzzled because they will not explain to themselves what is happening. Here you will be beginning the 2nd part of the day -the illuminated part-, and it is when you will begin to acquire conscience that having taken the decision to practice the WALK-RWD system has allowed you to change the face of the 1st part of that day: the tiredness disappeared, the energy to develop activities has multiplied, you will have greater self-confidence, and you will be becoming more conscious that you feel better than the previous day, and it is possible that you have forgotten that once you felt so good.
At some point you will wish for the new day to dawn to perform the same dynamics and verify that you will be able to repeat that state of mind and vigor, or perhaps you will think that you had a beautiful dream. You will want to repeat the whole process identically to validate it.
In this second part of the day, you will surely dialogue more willingly with yourself, and this will be very invigorating and motivating.
Positive thoughts will begin to dance in a revelry and crowd into your inner self. You will become more aware of your self, and you will probably begin to laugh, without having a reason to do so. You will enter into a restful silence of satisfaction for what you has done during the day and how you has felt during the hours that have passed; you will ask yourself: Am I daydreaming?
Now, if this can be achieved in one day, let us conjecture what we would achieve if we could repeat it for 1 week, 1 month or 1 year.
The energy of realization is potentiated.
There will be people who are pessimistic or suffer from some discomfort that forces them not to believe in this type of simple dynamics. This system also works for them. Of course, we must consider that not every day can be so vigorous and positive, some will be good and others not so good, and that there will also be one or another unsatisfactory day; but we must take the first step walking and the path will open that first day, and others will follow that will lead us to walk the paths we have always wanted to walk, and all towards positive and authentic personal fulfillment.
To start the walk on that first day, where we will undertake a determined support to our personal fulfillment, we must first define what we want to do, what are the activities we will carry out and what are our goals in life. To be able to determine this, first of all it will be necessary to know ourselves, and generally, this is something difficult to achieve. Nevertheless, the WALK-RWD system allows us to approach this knowledge. There are several posts where I expose the procedures to achieve it:
Independently of the procedures indicated in these articles, we can proceed to write -while we walk- the answers to the following questions, in an honest and sincere way, with the style we wish, and that in some way will lead us to know ourselves better, of what we wish, like and dislike, and that also have the purpose of obtaining an experiential balance when answering them, by writing them down.
– How do I visualize myself during the next 5 or 8 years?
– What are the most outstanding events that I have lived and that I would like to live again?
– What job would I like to do?
– What is the worst job I have ever had?
– Where would I like to live? In the city, in the country?
– How happy have I been?
– What kind of house would I like to live in: cottage, house, apartment, etc.?
– What are the activities I would not like to do?
– What are the activities I would always like to do?
– Write or draw about any other event or activity that has been relevant in your life.
Each question can be developed by writing it down -while walking- and after you have answered all of them -in one, two or three pages- dedicate a couple of hours to read them again and analyze them -while walking-, in order to extract those experiential aspects and your own experience (Post THE CONCEPT OF EXPERIENCE AND WALKING) that allow you to have a better knowledge of your intimate self, so you can write in detail the objectives you want to achieve in life.
# 425.- SINGULTUS. (Poem: A LOST SELF IS SOUGHT).
The achievement of this phase is indispensable to be able to define the objectives and to give meaning to our life, which should be in accordance with the search for our personal fulfillment. However, we must be aware that the objectives we seek in life are not strictly fixed, but vary a little as we move forward with our experience (Post THE CONCEPT OF EXPERIENCE AND WALKING).
Once these objectives have been described and expressed -and if we can also specify quantified goals-, we will be able to start defining commitments with ourselves, in the short, medium and long term, with the purpose of being able to determine some actions -of all kinds- that will lead us during a certain period of time towards the achievement of what we wish to achieve.
These actions are family, work, sports, recreational, educational, artistic, professional, which can be translated into daily activities that we will have to carry out to achieve our goals, as we have pointed out at the beginning of this post.
Let us keep in mind that when we are at the beginning of this phase, perhaps we will have already acquired the healthy habit of walking, if we use the system for the search of the knowledge of ourselves, of identification with our sense of life, of the objectives, and perhaps some procedure of the same system, to improve our health or some function of a certain type that we have relegated, such as creativity, reading, writing or meditation.
We will have to be with the greatest mental clarity, that the activities that we develop, from now on, will be congruent with what we really want to be and do, with our particular objectives, with our sense of life, because only in this way we will be on the way to achieve our authentic “personal fulfillment”.
# 695.- NO, YOU: HUMAN CONSCIENCE
Finally, I would like to repeat that we must always keep in mind that these types of objectives (feeling good about ourselves, personal fulfillment, meaning of life, etc.) can change over time, according to our experiences and above all, because we do not always know what we really want to do and what we like to do, but we must have the capacity to achieve it; so we can also change as we advance in life. In other words, we must be aware that the specificity of our “personal fulfillment” can be modified, but we already know how to regenerate and improve it.
For the time being, let us begin our first walk with the objective of searching for and finding our personal fulfillment.
