WALKING AND CAPSICUM (THE CHILI)

Eating chili when walking could be heard out of context of what we are looking for when using the WALK-RWD system, however, I am going to explain this based on some engravings that were found some decades ago in the ruins of Cacaxtla, Tlaxcala State , Mexico, and of certain images designed in codices (in Nahuatl amoxtli or analte) of the pre-Columbian cultures of the New World. Images that I have drawed using my character called Quale, with the sole purpose of trying to use my own illustrations.

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All of them have representations of human beings, who are observed in some way related to the chili (Nahuatl). You can see various activities represented such as harvesting (in markets), commercial exchange, transportation, storage and preserved in special bags, as well as people walking, running or doing some physical exercise, which at the same time are perceived they are eating chili. Chili is a fruit native to this part of the world that was named Capsicum in the early 16th century, after the discovery of these lands, although the first Europeans to try it assumed it was a variant of pepper.

The tlacuilo (in Nahuatl, scribe or painter) was the drawer in charge of representing and explaining this type of activity through images and hieroglyphs, in the different media used in those pre-Columbian nations, such as codices, murals, steles, etc.

Capsicum is the Latin name that was thus designated in the 16th century by European botanical specialists, surely paying attention to its shape and its spicy content in its veins: from the Latin capsa, capsae: box, capsule, container, wrapper, encapsulate; hence the name of the substance Capsicin (or Capsaicin) was derived, which is what contains the irritant of this fruit and which is located mainly in its veins: from the Latin ina: function, peculiarity, characteristic, to generate. This spicy substance contained in chili peppers is found in the filaments or glands, and also in the seeds in less quantity. Capsicin is located in these veins (or placenta). See my “Capsicupea book. Mexican marinades”, in which I present the 27 varieties of chili that are produced in Mexico and 440 culinary dishes that are made with this capsicum fruit. On the subject I must explain that the 4 hundred ADOBOS dishes that I present in the book are all made with DRIED CHILES, not with fresh chilies.

The peppers -red, green, yellow and orange-, so called, do not contain any dose of Capsicin, so they are sweet on the palate. The determination of this name “pepper” results from the confusion that occurred at the time of the discovery of the New World, with pepper thinking that it was a variety of it, and still in some languages certain names are still preserved with the pepper root: peperone (Italian), piment (French), pepper (English), pimentao (Portuguese), allspice (English), pepper (Jamaica), etc.

For illustrative purposes we attach – as I had said – certain images, where you can see very clearly some of these activities carried out by New World cultures in relation to chili. Said images were elaborated based on the originals extracted from the respective codices.

In an “engraving” we observe a Tepatiano or healer who was the doctor who was in charge of prescribing the procedure that was used by placing the patient, in a certain position, in order to receive the emanations (vapors) generated by the water that was brought to a boil [steam, which was put to heat (on the fire, to boil)] with some varieties of chili, a mixture that generated an infusion that when vaporized and absorbed by the patient – as can be seen in the image-, gave him a medical remedy and healing.

In this case of aspirations of chili vapors, I would like to pause a bit to comment on certain totemic aspects, apart from having a direct relationship with the practical procedures of healing through these emanations with chili, as can be seen in the pre-Columbian codices on the medical care that were practiced by this New World culture, the Totem is a “material” representation of an animal, plant or thing, which is the object of veneration and worship by a primitive group of human beings. From the socio-anthropological point of view, it is the image of any of those 3 representations that a group of people, large or small, be it a tribe, clan, etc., venerate and value for various characteristics, and are linked in a way soulish or spiritual with all members of the human group. The social group that adopted the Totem invariably took the name of the animal, the plant or the thing chosen; thus they had the tribe “Wolf”, “Corn”, “Rock”, “Deer”, “Eagle”, “Chili”, “Hawk”, “Beaver”, etc. During Totemism, the soul of the being flows to identify itself with the “Totem-Plants” (or animals or things) and takes possession of that totem and receives various benefits that the soul of the adopted Totem-Plant contains. That totemic soul was an image -and replacement- unconscious -and also conscious- that flowed from a personification and incarnation, from one body to another, with absolute and complete mobility, leaving one body and entering the other, and this soulish mobility it gave sustenance to the unconscious of the individual, urgently in need of it. From here a new way of invoking human spirituality is born, but above all flourishes, and perhaps also, is the genesis of the conscious repression of certain stimuli from the external environment, which begins to replace the belief in the natural environment -to trust that objective reality- by the spirits and very later, with the gods (religion). Thus, these vaporizations was also a conscious practice of exchanging positive influences with the soul of the Totem-“Chili”. Future Posts TOTEM AND WALKING, and THE WALK OF ANCIENT MAYAS AND THEIR TOTEM “CHILI”.

We also find in another “engraving” a mother with her child using the same healing procedure, by spraying with chili. And perhaps it represented a soulish exchange with the Totem-“Chili”.

I would like to comment that the conquerors had impregnated in their minds the “evil of their fellow men” from that part of the New World and when observing these healing images they only interpreted what they for millennia had heard, read and seen. These interpretations occurred in a general way in all the sectors and activities that were having contact, both with artistic and literary works and in the pre-Hispanic codices and their daily activities.

In this image you can see a tameme (from the Nahuatl meme: carry on his back; ta: on the subject that the action of the verb falls on) who were the people who carried packages or baskets on his back, using a mecapal. The baskets or motetes were made with vines. This loader, who carries a bag of chilies, also received the name of tlamama (From Nahuatl mama: carry piggyback; tla: thing, anything) is walking with his load and will be able to eat some chiles during the journey.

The following image does not represent an individual who is hungry (mayana: in Nahuatl wanting to eat something), but the only provision (in Nahuatl itacate or tlahuacal) of food for their walk, are the chilies.

It is observed a walker who undoubtedly was recommended to walk with that itacate of chili peppers of various types in order to strengthen his body and get some medical remedies or the prevention of discomforts because he is walking in a hurry (totoca, in Nahuatl someone who is going rush).

This preventive and strengthening treatment was also used in pre-Hispanic ball games, undoubtedly with mythical and divine purposes.

The ball game facilities were great sanctuaries where divine communication with the gods was achieved. Surely the fruit of the chili was considered an ambrosia of the gods, and for that reason it was ingested in these sport competitions. Its ingestion during these contests was a mythical representation that facilitated that divine communication.

The Pok-a-Tok (ball game in Mayan) was one of the most important rituals in the Mayan world, through which a communication with the gods was established, and was developed as such to represent diverse myths, mainly that of the Original Creation.

The game was played between two teams formed with seven players per side (This number of seven players is defined in the mural of the ball game of Chichen Itza, but there are opinions that it was also played with eight, nine and ten players per side). It was played with a rubber ball, which could not be touched with the hands or feet. The players were dressed in ex (loincloth in Mayan) and wore sandals, thick gloves for the hands and protected elbows and hips.

The objective of the game was to introduce the ball through a hole, in the shape of an ear that was placed on both sides of the playing field. The hole through which the ball had to pass represented the center of the maximum energy, that is, it was the direct link with their gods. It was built with two holes, one on each side of the playing field, to which any of the two teams could pass the ball, indistinctly. Having two holes represented ambivalence and duality, that is, their coexistence with the gods in that divine trance obtained during the encounter. One of the interpretations given is that the movement that the ball took during the game represented the positions of the stars (the divinities) in the sky and every time the ball was introduced through any of the two holes, a communication with the gods was made.

The rubber ball was propelled with the elbows and hips, to try to introduce it in any of the 2 rings located and embedded on both walls of the field, from 12 to 14 inchs in diameter in its interior hole and at a height of 16 feet from the ground.

The playing field where the Pok-a-Tok was played measured 480 feet long, by 118 feet wide, although these dimensions could vary. The floor was made of stucco which was a floor prepared of white material, just like the sacred paths or sacbéoob. (Post THE ANCIENT MAYAS AND THEIR WHITE ROADS. PART I).

Before the beginning of each contest, players from both sides were invited to eat chili, as part of the mythical ritual of ingesting the sacred totem “Chili” (Future Post THE WALK OF THE ANCIENT MAYANS AND THEIR TOTEM “CHILI”). Another possible mythical interpretation about the game of ball and above all about the configuration of the playing fields, is that there was a small enclosure where the different varieties of chili that the players ingested were deposited and distributed, according to their needs and the prescriptions of the tepatians specialized in sports activities.

The purpose of this post is not to invite you to eat chili peppers when you are walking, but only to convey you that this fruit has been used for many millennia, in many parts of the world and in different human actions (*): to walk while eating it, to strengthen the players and chargers, to heal (to cure in general), as an offering to the divinities, to prepare culinary dishes of “adobo” and “mole”, to fumigate food storage areas and dwellings (housing), also as Vegetable-Totem (in totemic times), for food preservation, and other uses.

I consider it quite relevant to know the great diversity that exists of this product, and I will allow myself to present you a table of the most important varieties, where you can see the relationship that exists between dried chilies and their corresponding fresh chilies, from which they are obtained by certain drying processes. The combinations that can be made for the preparation of dishes that in Mexico are called ADOBOS and MOLES, is truly incalculable. In my book “CAPSICUPEA. Los adobos Mexicanos (Mexican Marinades)”presented 440 different dishes and all of them are very representative of the Mexican taste (Nahuatl-Mexica).

Source: Loya Lopategui, Carlos, CAPSICUPEA. Los adobos Mexicanos (Mexican Marinades), EMULISA, Mexico, 2017.

(*) Information extracted from the Mayan texts and books (CODEXS) in reference to health, food, disease cure, its medicinal practices, its specialized books on medicine and diseases, and how to diagnose and cure through the prescription of medicines and exercises such as walking, and how they also pointed out the expiration or validity of certain herbal and mineral medicines, which lost their effects after a certain time of having prepared them. The recommendations made by the ancient Mayans in their codices on health, such as that of the Cruz-Badiano (1552) in which medical knowledge is gathered and the Madrid Codex. It is important to point out the investigations carried out by the doctor of Felipe II, Francisco Hernández, as the fact that he was the first to use some of the plant remedies that were used in pharmacological medicine in Europe, based directly on the herbal knowledge of the original of the New World.

Currently there are about 100 varieties of chili peppers, only in America.

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THE BLOCKED WRITER AND THE WALKS

The WALK-RWD system has the possibility of helping us to unblock that interruption in the flow of ideas that we suffer when we feel that we lack creativity in our artistic work.

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Maybe I should have titled this post: THE BLOCKED ARTISTIC CREATOR AND THE WALKS, because what we call “mind-blocking” happens to all kinds of people and at all ages, in childhood, adolescence, maturity and old age. It is a lack of fluidity of ideas, images, thoughts, perceptions, intuitions, inventiveness, imaginations, inspirations, etc., and it does not only happen to writers and artists. Now, although the procedure we use in general is very similar, I have preferred to publish (write) another post exclusively for plastic creators (Future Post THE BLOCKED PLASTIC CREATOR AND THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM), since, for these cases, several points must be analyzed in greater detail.

Specifically, I recommend two courses of action to artistic creators (art creators, writers): the first one is that they have several simultaneous options (in parallel) in their work, that is, not only writing a novel, but 2 or 3, or another genre as an essay or poetry; the same for plastic artists, painting several works in an alternative way with the same or another technique (oil, pastel, acrylic, etc.) or sculptures, in such a way that they have other options of work, in case one of them is blocked, to move on to work on another one immediately; always alternating one and the other because the mind in that way is liberated and thus can be redirected in its creative processes.

This is very important because the mind gets stuck eventually, when you are doing the same work, for lack of creativity. And it is worse when we want to force it “rationally” to develop a work in which it no longer generates any creative process, or if there is a deadline for finishing it, either defined by the artist (writer) himself or by third persons. That is why, when we take away from our mind that conscious pressure of termination or forced creation, we free it by giving it other options of realization -or of termination-, the pressures are dissipated and we free it from the purely conscious rational forms, redirecting it in its normal ways of being prodigal in the creation of ideas and in the imagination.

Now, if we cannot count on several possibilities of simultaneous creative work (in parallel), then we will be able to use the alternative resource that is walking, and that never fails; most of the times even immediately.

We have expressed that mental creation is a factory-warehouse that we can be filling and emptying permanently, and that we can “make it efficient” through the process of reading-writing-drawing, while we walk. There is a force in this virtuous circle of reading-writing-drawing that propels our unconscious to recover part of what we have stored in our memory and that exposes it as graphic and mental images, so we would only have to accelerate that inner force. Post READING-WRITING-DRAWING: VIRTUOUS CIRCLE.

In this other line of action, I address writers – but it is similar, as I mentioned, for anyone else who has to develop creative activities – who feel blocked (paralyzed) in their creativity and artistic exercise and cannot continue writing their literary work; the only thing they have to decide is to go for a walk for a couple of miles during some days (3 or 4) carrying with them, in each walk, an interesting book, and related to the topic they are developing (novel, essay, etc.) ). Be willing to read a few pages during your walks and not forgetting a sufficient number of blank sheets of paper or a small notebook for notes, to restart and continue with your own work (Post THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM ENCOURAGES CREATIVE THINKING, PART I). During your walk and your reading, any word or phrase will cause you to redirect to your own document, unlocking it.

The steps are easy and concrete: 1) Get ready to walk, and do it, 2) Take a document with you and start reading it, 3) Concentrate on another author’s text or book, which will lead you to exclude your own document from your mind, and, 4) Continue this way until you achieve the unblocking.

I would like to clarify that for another type of artistic creation, the type of “document or instrument” that will accompany you during the walks should be analyzed, so that it is ideal and effective.

The system does not fail and you will never be alone again when you feel mentally blocked (paralyzed), as you can always resort to this method, as it will allow you to free your imagination, your creativity (creative facult) and your intuition.

For the unblocking, I wish to emphasize that it is not recommended that daily reading during the walks should be done on the same document that is being written, since it is rationalism and conscience that are obstinate and produce the blockage, but rather that texts, books or documents of other authors that are related to the theme or themes on which it is being written should be used.

In short, there are two ways of acting, which can be exercised, to avoid the blockage, and they are complementary:

1. Having several options of simultaneous artistic creation (in parallel), where the mind can freely choose which of them it feels more attracted to, productive and creative (idea creator), during the daily moments of creative work.

2. Start walking by reading, writing or drawing (WALK-RWD System).

Both ways of action are not exclusive and should be done permanently, that is, always give several options to the mind in its process of creation, and walk every day, from 20 to 30 minutes, minimum; and if you manage to get abstracted in your reading -suggestive and stimulant-, continue in it while you are enjoying it, and this way your mental block will be eliminated.

I have no doubt that by remaining alert and constant with these two courses of action, no one can ever remain blocked for more than 24 hours.

As a final conclusion, I would like to repeat that the WALK-RWD system works for anyone who is mentally blocked, regardless of their work activity. All you have to do is find one or two books that are related to that work (and even without) and get ready to walk reading any of the 2 books or both. You will see that in a couple of sessions you will be free of your blockage, regaining your creativity.

If you have suffered from these blocks and have experienced other ways to get out of them that work satisfactorily for you, I invite you to share them with our fellow readers. They will be grateful to you.

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WALKING AND THE ARCHETYPE “MAGIC”. PART I

It is convenient to briefly indicate what magic has represented for the human being; he creates it by his “belief” in the supernatural. Man, from the earliest times, has tried to control all the natural phenomena that were generated in his physical environment and to know the movements of the stars, as well as the causes of what he did not understand.

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The cave painting found in the “Les trois Freres” grotto in the south of France is very representative. This figure represents an individual who has a beard, legs and feet drawn, and is presented walking and moving, with deer horns on his head, and his ears and arms correspond to another type of animal. So it is adorned with “animal” parts. Surely he is an individual dressed for a ceremony and was magically representing a deer hunter along with other animals, so the title that has been assigned to him is “the sorcerer”.

This finding corresponds to the hominid remains found in this region of France and which was called Cro-Magnon Man because it was located in a cave with this name. (Posts HOMO-ITER: MAN WALKER. PART I & HOMO-ITER: MAN WALKER. PART II; Future post CHRONICLE OF A DISAPPEARANCE ANNOUNCED IN THE PLEISTOCENE).

This painting falls within what is called imitative magic, since the fact of representing a human being in a painting implied that by putting it in motion – along with the other elements of the painting – it would achieve the invoked results: being able to reach the animal required. A painting, representing this ceremony, served to spiritually understand the animal that they did not want to harm it, but would need it for its meat to feed and its skin as clothing. Surely there were some other ways of drawing or painting the objects and animals that they wanted to magically relate, such as, for example, drawing them along the paths or areas –on the ground or in the sand- that these animals used to travel and who needed to get hold of to benefit of its meats, bones and skins.

Another form of magic used -from ancient times- is the so-called contaminating or contact. Its fundamental principle is that the magician can act on a person (or animal) by in his hand any object that has been in contact with that person (or animal). All these magical forces exert their effectiveness on the things on which they interact, and are supposed to do so by a secret power of attraction, at near or far distances. Based on this other form of magic, we can imagine that they could also make contacts with the spear and with the horns of the animal to be able to attract them to themselves.

Although we have pointed out 2 forms of magic, the imitative and by contact, there are other modalities that have been practiced throughout the history of humanity; as well as we must recognize that they were not only used to hunt animals, but also to imitate them in their general behavior, their rest, their way of sleeping, to take care of other animals, their wandering, their way of feeding, etc.

Just as positive magic has existed, so has negative. J. G. Frazer in his book “The Golden Bough. Magic and Religion”, has expressed in this regard that both magic, the contact and the imitative, comprise both positive mandates (enchantments or sorcery) and negative (taboos or prohibitions), so you must answer what we must do what we should not do. He explains that positive mandates tell us that we must carry out this for this to happen, their purpose is to generate an event that is desired; while negative mandates tell us that we should not do this so that this does not happen, their purpose is to avoid the event that is feared.

These conceptualizations of Frazer about positive and negative magic lead us to mention that there have always been countless behaviors to carry out some activities while walking; suffice it to point out that of imitating the walking of some animals, of certain towns, attracting them to suitable trails to capture and hunt them. The same happens with the prohibition of doing some other activities while walking: not sewing, not spinning, not eating certain fruits or dishes, etc.

All peoples, for millennia, have been “building” their domestic magic, which are similar in general aspects, containing common elements. This generalized construction of magic in the human being responds to a universal archetype.

According to C. G. Jung, the archetypes “are images linked entirely to the emotions of the human being”, “… are images of a collective nature, which occur almost universally as constituents of myths and, at the same time, as autochthonous individual products of unconscious origin… ”; Thus, every archetype is a psychic binomial of images and emotions, a psychic projection or spiritual images (productions) generated in the collective unconscious and that reach to consciousness after long periods of time, generated by repeated experiences, in such a way that they have “incubated” in the collective unconscious, that is to say, they are always common to entire peoples and to specific times, and through the individual unconscious they are revealed, manifest and externalize themselves towards the physical environment. In our case, as manifestations in magical beliefs.

Every archetype is produced by a condensation of myriads of events similar to each other, of certain psychic experiences that have been repeated for millennia.

All these beliefs in magical matters are transfigured in images, sustained in an infinity of customs, rites, traditions, magical rituals, formulas of praise, help, blessing or curse, etc., that over the course of long periods of time are constituted an important part of the collective archetype.

Since ancient times, it is inscribed in the archaic mind that everything must “die” and “be reborn”. Let us keep in mind that the magic practiced by sorcerers (shamans, magicians, etc.), people specialized in this activity, sought fundamentally to help but above all to heal others, save them from not losing their lives.

Let’s also observe that the archetype “Magic” does not imply the existence of magic itself, nor of a magician or sorcerer, but has been formed by the condensation that we spoke of earlier, from the millennial repetition of psychic experiences and that have accumulated in the collective unconscious.

We can assure that there is always a connection between archetypes, and in addition to that of “Magic” should not be confused with those related to the ritual of the new, cycle restart, or astrological periods, or recreation. It is the search and encounter with life, with that spiritual part that the human being has always tried to find, and which later became a religion because magic ceased to be effective; for this reason, in a first phase these thaumaturges arose (healers, shamans, etc.), and in a later phase, religious figures (monks, priests, etc.) emerged. With the conception of “spirit” and the idea that dwells in “things” begins the process of transformation of magic – which begins to lose effectiveness – towards religion.

This repetition of events similar to each other, mostly equivalent or analogous, generated by everyday attitudes and actions regarding the practice of magic, translated into a search for power and control towards the supernatural and towards everything that was not understood, became It transformed into an archetype, which we could well enunciate – currently – psychologically as wanting to ascend to God or wanting to be like God. The condensation of that archetype translates into movement and dynamism that we must give way to by walking. That is to say, walking, we carry out that analogy in which we transfer and release that archetypal need to control the rest of things. Walking is exercising the archetype “Magic”; this has been based on rituals, customs and traditions -very varied in all peoples and that currently some still express archaically- that have provided us with a force (physical and mental) capable of coping with all kinds of emotional issues such as frustrations, losses , failures, sufferings, revenges, penances, threats, challenges, etc., and from the physical point of view, such as falls, accidents, diseases, discomforts, pain, infections, etc.

The displacement that is achieved through the archetype “Magic”, the soul or spirit of the individual -or group- that is involved in the process of archetypal images, generally participated disguising himself with animal or vegetable clothing, with or without a mask, and with rhythms and movements that resembled the animals that he wanted and needed to be present in the ceremony or in the magical ritual, for this reason there is always a relationship between clothing (or the cave painting that we mentioned earlier ) which is generally called totemism and the archetype “Magic”.

There is a parallelism between painting or drawing, totemism (including its statuary or sculptural creation) and the archetype “Magic”, since all three are representations of images that the unconscious (mind, spirit and soul) must carry out, and all of them are impregnated and sustained by human emotions.

Regarding the functional animal relationship, we can mention that part of the soul of the animal – its anima – is transmuted into the soul of the human being who invokes it magically, obtaining movement and energy from that selected animal, is the impulse to move. The anima generates a movement that gives breath, provokes and drives a walk that gives vigor.

An ancestral paragon is the activities we carry out when preparing daily food.

Sounds are eternal units that reside in the mind, in the interior of the being, entities that participate in creation when they are emitted by the voice, or by any other means, and are received by ears.

It seems that someone whispered to us advising that the highest art, the best art, is the one that is performed with the greatest number of human senses. And therefore, we could venture saying that the rhythm in the corporal movements has a deep and subtle effect in the preparation of the dishes. That rhythmic faculty, sensation and capacity are determining in the being for it.

I do not wish to elaborate on this, but I do comment that the activities carried out in the kitchen, aimed at preparing food, have always been carried out in the company of movements and songs of work – rhythm and compass – since ancient times and in very primitive activities such as mashing, grinding, cutting, kneading, mashing, combining, chopping, decapitating, mutilating, topping, slicing, carving, mixing, baking, roasting, and all of them surely had a compass, a song, a rhythm, a melody, a cadence (time lapse), that accompanied and led them.

It was characteristic that these were carried out in a group and as the food preparation activity became more and more an individual activity, the custom and its rituals of accompanying them with songs and rhythmic body movements in groups, was lost.
(Textual fragments extracted from my book: Loya Lopategui, Carlos, COCINOPEA. Gastronomy, EMULISA, México, 2011).

Hence, we could also venture to say that a good cook (male or female) is one who has an adequate and relevant interior rhythm. (Future post THE COMPASS AND THE RHYTHM IN THE WALKING). The rhythmic balance and the good flavor come together to achieve the best dishes.

Now, according to my personal conclusion about this archetype, that of Magic, is that we need to repeat our ancestors in their ceremonial behavior and be in motion imitating animals in their walk, to fully communicate with our deepest interiority (with our instincts), and this will, of course, be achieved by reducing our physical and mental dependence on modern means of transportation. So let’s start walking.

Our ancestors painted the totem to multiply it and to present it, either on the walls of a rock (like the cave painting described), on any soil or terrain, or specifically on the trails where that animal-totem used to walk or graze; sometimes they only highlighted the most desired parts of the animal or only those parts drew. In general, they painted some section of the animal totem that fully identified it as such, such as its antlers, its heads, its tusks, its tracks, etc.

The spirit (or soul) pictorially represented in this way (imitative magic) provided an encouraged (in latin: animation) for the animals to present themselves at the desired moments and in the right places, in order to hunt them down. In addition to these plastic forms, they also used real parts (contact magic) of the animal that they wanted to capture, such as their skins, ornaments, hooves, bones, etc.; all this to give an “animation” to their pack companions towards the place where they would wait for them, and after that, to capture all of them.

A very widespread variety in almost all the peoples of the world was the practice of imitative magic when ingesting selected parts of animals, because in them certain important forces of the animal were stored, and that when eating them – prepared in different ways – they transmitted those magical powers to the ingesting them; depending on the “part” that was destined to consume magically, greater physical strength, better eyesight, greater speed in running, greater resistance in walking long distances, better hearing, greater reproductive and fertilization capacity, ease in elimination of sterility and sexual impotence, etc.

In this same sense, another imitative magic practice, but with plants and vegetables was to eat parts of their stems, leaves, roots, flowers and fruits, because this is how they acquired their benign and healing properties, according to the people who provided them.

However, this regular custom, almost in all the peoples of the world, of eating plants and vegetables, there was also the magical practice that combined plants and vegetables with the capture of animals. For example, the use that was given to the fallen leaves – by themselves, not cut – from the trees. A certain number of them were placed in an animal pit-trap, so that in the same way the prey fell freely into the trap. The greater the number of leaves and the greater their size, the more animals and of great size would fall into the trap.

Another magical practice was contact with stones; because when they got tired walking, because they had traveled long distances, it was believed that touching them allowed them to transfer their tiredness to those stones that they later threw in special places along the way.

Let’s start walking. I am sure we do not need any magic to give an “animation” to our body to make it walk, or perhaps we should make contact with our archetype “Magic”.

Loya Lopategui, Carlos, COCINOPEA. Gastronomy, EMULISA, Mexico, 2011

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WORK WHILE WALKING

Passion is the fundamental emotional vibration to carry out any human activity. The same happens with the WALK-RWD system; passion is required to put it into practice daily, more easily and more effectively

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Walking based on another activity is more attractive, productive and permanent, such as reading, writing and drawing. These 3 structured activities within the WALK-RWD system decisively provide a clear and forceful passion while walking (Post LOOKING FOR PASSION IN THE REALIZATION OF THINGS, WHILE WE WALK). In addition, as we have pointed out and verified as we have been developing the Blog, the WALK-RWD system is a prodigal agent through other sources of motivation and passion, such as meditating, contemplating, abstracting, creating ideas, increasing creativity, disease prevention, increase in health, relaxing, self-motivation (Post PASSION AND TIME WALK TOGETHER), increase in cognitive performance, elimination of negative habits, corrective and preventive method for health, self-liberation of negative emotions, etc.

Personally, when I lack the desire to walk, which are very rarely the times I find myself without that taste, I immediately think about what I can accompany her with, whether with a good book or with some text that I am writing – or that I am about to develop. – and with that it is enough to catapult myself and start my walk (departure to walk).

For this reason, I always have a passion for going out for a walk, because I also have some “companion activity” to do it with passion. As always I have something to read, draw or write, which I am passionate about, I am practically always happy to start the walks.

From what I have heard from people and they have directly corroborated it, maintaining health in optimal conditions is not enough nor is it very exciting to move a human being to walk.

Let’s see what is the reason for this post, which is related to certain work activities, all those that could develop while walking.

I know how passionate a person can be in their office, school, etc. work. That alienating motivation that is felt when one is enjoying doing certain activities that abstract us. A satisfactory job that looks for it and finds it oneself: they are incentives, harmonies, creative activities, new ideas and new processes, help and assistance to your coworkers, advice to those who approach you, etc., you can enlist dozens of these moments where we feel highly productive and passionate, pretty good about ourselves.

These parameters I have already pointed out in 2 previous posts, which would allow companies to increase the labor productivity of their employees, by implementing this WALK-RWD system within the same physical environment of their facilities. (Post EFFICIENCY AND PRODUCTIVITY IN OTHER FIELDS; and Post THE SYSTEM CAN BE INCORPORATED TO COMPANIES). That is, the daily activities of writing, reading and drawing that are necessarily the production base of a high percentage of offices, are carried out while walking, in areas designed for it, within the workplace.

Sometimes it is hard to find or maintain that passion or taste for work, but that is what this scheme is that I transmit to current generations – those who are starting and those who are economically active – and for future ones.

I have already expressed that it is not easy to develop a passion for just walking.

In fact, for boys and girls – Freyre, a Brazilian pedagogue, said – knowledge of any kind acquired outside the classroom became especially significant in the open air and unforgettable.

If you manage to take the office work to the walk, -or the walk to the office work-, that passion will have an impact on the miles that you can walk without you noticing. I have already mentioned what happens to me personally: a book that I am passionate about makes me walk 3 miles and when I realize it, 60 minutes have passed. Or the writing of a text that I am passionate about makes me walk another 6 miles.

The model can be used backwards: that job that is forgotten because it is boring or detestable, but that you inevitably have to do for your company, you may think that since you have the obligation to do it, at least you will give your body -and mind- that walk and it will benefit your health. You will see that it does work. It’s kind of looking at things in reverse, but if you have to do it anyway, at least you walked and you also gave your spirit some ‘oxygenation’.

The answer is to organize that AMBULANTE OFFICE WHILE YOU WALK. It is not easy, but neither is it impossible, if you discover how to take that passion to the trails near your home, an “Office while you walk”, and so you can have that “carrot” every day to go out for a walk with passion.

Certain care must be taken to carry out this implementation (organization and execution), such as the weight and support (the load) of the equipment, the balance of the body and some other aspects that must be taken into account for this new way of working. (Future posts PARTS OF THE BODY TO WALK-THE CARE OF THEM; THE SYMMETRY OF THE BODY AND THE WALKING) .

Try it at least a few times with different topics or problems to solve, and you will surely receive a satisfactory answer, through new ideas that will allow you to solve them faster and more efficiently. Try it and tell us your results on this blog. Try and don’t give up.

On the other hand, I would like to comment on what is happening right now.

The important thing is to raise awareness of what may come or is already incorporated in our family, social and work environment.

Be aware of what is happening against our health and specifically the increase in stress, due to multiple factors, and among them decisively is sedentary lifestyle, in social, cultural and productive environments, especially the workplace.

Unfortunately and concretely, we are being transformed into more sedentary beings. We no longer walk to go to our workplace. For a high percentage of the world population, we will no longer walk either to get to our car or to take the bus, nor during the respective and few moments that were before, associated with these actions, we walked inside the bus, nor did we do it to get off it, and head to the office, etc.

This trend towards sedentary lifestyle -which has been accentuating for the last century- we had already pointed out in previous posts (Post HOMO-ITER, MAN WALKER, PART I; and Post HOMO ITER, MAN WALKER, PART II), however, what has happened in recent months represents a true paralysis of being in terms of moving on foot.

Clearly we will become “labor statues” (also in statues in the rest of the human sectors) and we will be one of the immovable (furniture) articles that surround us, with an enormous possibility of detriment to the human race (Future Post CHRONICLE OF A DISAPPEARANCE ANNOUNCED IN THE PLEISTOCENE). You hear this very exaggerated, however, as I have mentioned: having stood up and walked, millions of years ago, transformed us into HOMO SAPIENS SAPIENS, and this led us to these historical moments; if we sit down and do not walk, we will transform ourselves into a possible HOMO-OBITUS, which will announce itself its sundown.

Try your new AMBULANTE OFFICE WHILE YOU WALK and you will see that it will give you good results.

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THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM ENCOURAGES CREATIVE THINKING. PART I

It has been demonstrated, over the years, that there is a relationship between walking – in addition to other physical exercises – and the functional processes of the brain, stimulating their development and abilities , in addition to preventing ailments and illnesses.

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I could not say that any type of exercise would have similar effects, because I have not experienced them and surely that intense or extreme sports, either, to put an excessive case, would not be examples to consider.

I will begin by briefly explaining some questions about the functional components of the human being. I consider that there are four its main functional divisions:

This post is oriented within the MENTAL component and will be aimed at the concept of creativity, leaving aside that of cognition (reasoning, thinking, decision-making, IQ) since this function – also of the component mental- I have analyzed it in the future post THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM AND COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE that deals with cognitive function in particular.

Within the mental component, 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 that it has under its control are of 4 types: a) Superior Functions, such as reasoning, thinking, memorizing, attention, speaking, creativity, imagination, perception, decision making, intellectual intelligence, emotional intelligence, behavior emotional; b) Vital functions, such as heart rate or rhythm, breathing, digestion; c) Essential Functions, such as sleeping, sexual arousal, sweating (Future Post WALKING AND SWEATING), hunger; and d) Secondary Functions, such as yawning, sneezing, etc.

The Superior Functions are developed in the brain itself, in its cerebral lobes that are an important part of the cerebral cortex; Of all of them, cognitive functions are the most important that are developed in the human brain. (Future post THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM AND COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE).

In general, cognitive functions allow us to react appropriately to stimuli and external agents, and all of them are interconnected. Thus, the brain performs, in an interrelated way, the various cognitive functions: reasoning (thinking, understanding, reflecting, meditating); memorizing (learning, repeating, remembering, forgetting); attention (curiosity, observation, analysis, interest, distraction, perception); speaking (talking, dialoguing, expressing, communicating, explaining, articulating, listening, responding, keeping quiet); and conduct (regulation and control of behavior, attitudes).

Although we will focus on what creativity implies, the rest of the functions that do not fall within the cognitive, have the same treatment that we will expose in this post, such as imagination, inventiveness, intuition and inspiration.

The coordinated movement that is generated in the walk causes the brain to produce various substances (ENDOCRINE SYSTEM) such as Endorphins, Catecholamines, Adrenaline, Enzymes, Pheromones, Glycogen, Immunoglobin, Interferons, Lymphocytes, Myoglobin, Neurotrophins, etc., (Future post THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM AND THE SELF-PRODUCTION OF ORGANIC SUBSTANCES), which in turn stimulate the development and full functioning of neurons, increasing considerably the number of connections between them and the functional areas of the brain itself.

In some of the previous posts I have mentioned what Nietzsche used to say about the walk, expressing: “Only good ideas arise when we are walking.” It would be abusive to create a theory based on an exergue or an aphorism of a person, even if it comes from a great thinker like Nietzsche himself; nevertheless, he surely experienced, on several recurring occasions and to a certain intensity, this truth that he declared with such care and so much certainty; in other words: For some reason he said it and we should guard with suspicion (much attention) that thought.

In this post we will refer -as we express- with greater emphasis to the functional section of creative thinking, to the function of imagining and creating ideas, which has been given the name of creativity, in a generic way. Creativity is a superior function, which is made up of mental operations such as: devising, imagining, idealizing, fantasizing, rambling, inventing, creating and speculating. However, all the development that I will expose on the concept of “being creative” can be used in the same way to positively impact the other brain functions.

Walking causes the brain to enter a need to “COMPENSATE” (STABILIZE- BALANCE- LEVEL- a physical imbalance) a state in motion, which in turn causes “unevenness” (instability) in its chemical elements (properties, attributes, particularities) and their neurotransmitters (Future Post BEING IN MOTION TO MOVE NEURONS). Before the cause of the movement an effect of necessity. Before the walk begins, the brain is in a state of “balance” in the body, a function that it develops along with other systems such as the vestibular, associated with the mechanical part of the inner and outer ear. All these systems together with the brain control both the static and the dynamic balance of the being. The static keep it in balance while the body is not moving; and the dynamic is controlled by the individual being in motion, walking or moving through any other type of mobility, whether moving or not.

During a walk, the brain permanently seeks to “COMPENSATE” (STABILIZE- BALANCE- LEVEL- a physical imbalance) that state in movement, in all possible ways, during the total time that this journey lasts.

Throughout this period of walking, the brain seeks to “stabilize itself”, giving instructions both to its own organic unit (cerebral convolutions and neurotransmitters), and to other systems, glands (Future Post ANOTHER ENIGMA: WALKING, GENDER AND PINEAL GLAND ) and organs, to achieve this “balance”, such as sight, touch (feet and hands), muscle, etc. Some vicariant parts of the brain will try to supply the insufficiency of some others that are affected by the loss of that “balanced and harmonic state”. Likewise, some organs, glands or systems, as a whole articulated, will try to support the needs that the brain is experiencing, including the vestibular system.

As we have already mentioned, this process directly influences the generation of substances throughout the body, as well as the development of functions of all kinds.

There are several fields -of activities- where you can see the implication or effect that is exerted by causing the gestation of substances and neural processes, and where we can obtain positive and effective results in human behavior. In the field of creativity (ideas, memory, inspiration, imagination, etc.) it is one of them and in the field of emotions it is another. We have already mentioned in post PRESERVING AND AFFIRMING HEALTH, CREATIVITY AND TRANQUILITY, several of those positive aspects that are generated through the application of the WALK-RWD system.

The vestibular is one of the first systems, and one of the most important, that is exercised (impacted, influenced, affected, disturbed, moved) with the movement of the walk; on the other hand, unfortunately we do not know which parts of the brain are “decompensated”, moving, when going through that state during the walk, nor what are the vicariant parts (cerebral convolutions or neurotransmitters) that enter into (functioning, movement, articulation) exercise (new and different functions, not the traditional ones known) to reactivate and level (compensate, restore and recover) the parts that intervene in the search and achievement of a stabilization (uncontrolled, disturbed) in order to supply them.

In other words, the brain also enters a process of counter-change (decompensation, imbalance) by the vestibular system itself, as it is forced to respond when the human body enters into motion (dynamic equilibrium). This organic process, which is generated in the vestibular system in a state of dynamic equilibrium, is a clear analogy regarding the way the brain must function in certain neural areas when we start to walk. Below I briefly describe how the vestibular system is composed and how it works.

Tiny constituent parts of the ear control the vestibular system, which in turn regulates static balance (the human body at rest) and dynamic balance (the human body in motion). Static balance maintains the orientation of the body and the head with respect to the ground and controls it stable with respect to its body weight. Dynamic balance controls the position of the body and the head, balancing the entire organism, responding to movement or movements made by the body (locomotion, gait, translation, increase or decrease in speed, speed, slowness and rotation) ; and when walking or making any movement, the balance of this system is broken, which immediately seeks to restore it by sending instructions to its different sections.

The following expression describes the sequence of the process:

                 “Walking-Imbalance” ▲ “Search for Compensation” ▲ “Brain”

                                   ▲ Thought ▲ Mind ▲ Ideas ▲ Emotions ▲

Let us keep in mind that ideas and emotions are vectors with their own energy and that they are in motion and that, therefore, they stimulate all areas of the body and fundamentally the brain.

When we walk, we provoke movements in the head and therefore we generate an ALERT SIGNALS (DECOMPENSATION-DESTABILIZATION- UNBALANCE- SLOWING) both in the area of the brain itself and in the other systems (sight, hearing, body, etc.), but fundamentally in the vestibular; which in turn sends sensory messages to the brain, reaching this and other organic parts that seek to reestablish (restore, recover and resume) harmony. Similarly, a high percentage of the messages that are sent from the organ of sight to the brain are to maintain balance, both in the body itself and in relation to the floor.

With the following diagram, I want to show that by moving we get the brain to use new neural circuits and perform new functions. Just by walking we achieve these effects.

This sensory-nervous type information reaches certain organs and systems throughout the body so that they participate according to their functions in order to preserve and restore balance. Let’s also keep in mind that constantly the brain, before the different movements that the body has, passes from a state of harmony and compensation to another state that is different from the one that preceded it.

To end this PART I of the post, I would like to highlight that walking is a natural activity of the human being and that its performance is perfectly balanced for its optimal functioning, since it is carried out in a harmonious and balanced way that gives the body the mind that medullary rhythm that is essential for the proper functioning of all its systems and organs.

There has been so much experience that walking promotes the harmonious functioning of the cerebral hemispheres, that there is no doubt about it. Walking is an exercise that causes effects on the 2 symmetrical parts of the human body, so any exercise that generates it, will have similar effects (Future post THE SYMMETRY OF THE BODY, ITS BALANCE AND WALKING), as long as they are not gymnastics or sports that are too hard, nor exhausting or violent.

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