Perfect Poise, Perfect Life
Bring your body into balance and revolutionise your life
By Noel Kingsley
Publisher Hodder Mobius
AVAILABLE HERE
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Biped in the Chilterns
The Chilterns
While out walking in the Chiltern Hills on Sunday, on a most lovely warm April day that pretends to be summer, the precariousness of being a two legged creature was made most profoundly clear to me.
The Chilterns are a range of low, rolling hills forming a crescent shape rather like a quarter moon that surrounds the north and west of London at a distance of 20-40 miles. They are close enough to get to easily for a days walking and far enough to get away from the business of the city. It's true country although it's still commuter land. Red kites fly here in their dozens, the quaint and quintessentially English villages are linked by single tracked winding roads that run the length of small valleys through woodlands, farmland and between high hedges. Footpaths and bridal paths abound in their hundreds; a network that provides endless variety of routes and vistas that need never be repeated even though we visit the area regularly.
Red Kite
Underfoot the ground is rock hard. April showers have not transpired to soften the clay, so horses' hoof prints are cut deep, and what may normally be soft and even boggy is now cracking in the dryness that throws up dust with every step.
And it's every step I noticed on Sunday. Not that it was arduous, indeed far from it, but carrying a back pack that was a little heavier than usual I was more aware of my balance. My pack contained amongst a few other things, 1 1/2 litres of water and a Leica camera (metal, old fashioned and capable of superb images but rather more burdensome that I would like on a long walk), so the tendency to lean forwards was increased. Getting off balance by leaning forwards as a biped, puts extra strain not only on our back muscles, but also our calves and neck. Shoulders can tend to hunch and the weight tends to go down through the balls of our feet. Yes, a slight lean will be appropriate to compensate for the weight on our back, but we must avoid leaning more than necessary. This tendency can be increased still further when going up hill; we can easily become hunched and start to plod.
Whether we are walking with an extra weight or without, the principles that ensure healthy and effortless walking apply in a similar way. As bipeds with only two feet to stand on, we need to be balanced (not over leaning forward), lengthening in stature upwards and also expansive across our shoulders and back. Haversacks or backpacks can tend to cause us to hunch our shoulders, but this is not ideal. Avoid hunching, not by 'pulling your shoulders back', but rather 'think yourself wide and open across your front'. To avoid leaning forwards, think of your head going upwards and allow your body weight to come back from the ankles a little so you are more upright. Send your head upwards and let your feet go out in front of you with every step. If we're leaning, it's easy for our body to get 'in advance' of our feet, so if we trip we end up on our face on the ground. If we don't trip, we're lucky, but we will still be putting untold pressure on our knees, lower back and the area of our feet just behind our toes.
Bring your weight back, think tall and look out into the distance. That way you're far more likely to reduce strain and also see more of the countryside that you've come such a distance to enjoy!
