WALKERS WEEKEND

Check out the Walkers' Weekend page above  ...^

ANNOUNCING THE 2016 WALKERS' WEEKEND

We're very pleased to announce the repeat and expansion of our very successful Walkers' Weekend from last year. This year we will repeat the Film Festival with two new films, on the Friday and Saturday evenings, followed by the KAPPS walk on the Sunday morning. New this year will be several other events. The planned weekend is April 22-24.

Once again, the event will be a combination of promoting walking as a recreational activity in the County, especially our KAPPS project, on one hand, and, on the other, a fund-raising vehicle for the Renfrew Hospice. The 2016 Hike for Hospice will follow our event by a week. The program is still in development, so watch for more announcements here.

So far we have selected our two films. Friday evening we'll screenthe Australian bio-pic, Tracks, (see IMDB details at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2167266/ ). It tells the true story of Robyn Davidson as she sets of on the first solo walk across the Great Western Desert, a journey of some 1,700 miles. The Saturday feature will be The Way Back (see IMDB details http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1023114/?ref_=nv_sr_1 ), another true story set at the end of the Second World War. In it, a group of prisoners in a Russian Gulag prison decide to escape and walk 4,000 miles to India.

On the Saturday morning, in cooperation with the Renfrew Library, we are hosting a Walkers' Panel, where several speakers will present their own unique experiences of different kinds of walking. On the Saturday afternoon we are developing a short workshop of interest for walkers. On the Sunday morning, the KAPPS group will sponsor its monthly walk along the K and P Trail. They will set off from downtown Renfrew for a 90 minute walk, returning back to town for a brunch and a short presentation at a downtown eatery (to be named soon).

The weekend promises to be full of fun for walkers of all skill and interests. Mark your calendars now.

Yours , on the journey,

Ray

In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks ~ John Muir

WALKING AND SOUND

WALKING AND SOUND

Walking is a naturally rhythmic activity. Once you find your pace you will notice that cadence, that’s called the beats per minute (BPM). We can use this cadence to layer the practice we are doing. We can incorporate some auditory input at that BPM which will reinforce our walking practice and make it more stable and deep. The typical auditory methods we have are counting and recitations.

Counting is the simplest and it can be counting steps or breaths. When you are walking, if it is slower in pace, you can synchronize your step, usually alternate steps, as in every left step, with the breath. This would mean each time you plant the left heel and move forward, you do it with an out breath. In our temple practice, we may do this kind of slow pace walking and use the moktak (wooden drum) to maintain that cadence. This works well with a slow indoor pace, but becomes awkward as we increase the pace and BPM.

If the pace is faster, you can count the steps in between out-breaths. This would mean you count the left foot/out breath as 1, then count the subsequent steps to the next out breath. This might mean you count 1-2-3-4-5 steps (depending on your pace) and then another out breath and begin again. This kind of step/breath counting is a very supportive addition to outdoor walking which maintains your concentration. This is one of the simplest ways of layering breath, step and cadence.

 

Walk a mile in anybody's shoes ...just walk

Ray