Walk, Laugh, Connect

Decades ago, I discovered the benefits of walking, and it has remained my preferred form of exercise ever since my lower back told me that long runs were no longer an option. I often take a walk in the middle of my workday and regularly join my labs, Stevie and Cody, when I unleash them on long late-afternoon romps in the national forest.

Personally, I am no speed demon when I take to the sidewalks or green spaces, but I do manage to outpace my sources of stress and worry, clear my mind, and open it up to solutions and new ideas and insights. And, it’s funny. I may find myself trying in the middle of the night to recall someone’s name or some other detail from long ago and am unable to retrieve it. But I tell myself it will come to me during my next walk, and sure enough, it does.

Such mental clarity and stress reduction are among the many benefits of daily walks cited by the Mayo Clinic. Others include:

» Maintaining a healthy weight and losing body fat.

» Preventing or managing conditions including heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, cancer and type 2 diabetes.

» Improving cardiovascular fitness.

» Strengthening bones and muscles.

» Increasing energy levels.

» Improving mood and sleep.

» Improving balance and coordination.

» Strengthening the immune system.

Part of the beauty of walking is that a little goes a long way. Even 30 minutes of walking a day has obvious benefits. And, as we age, we should be mindful of the fact that sedentariness is the enemy. We should not fail, to quote James Brown, to “get up offa that thing and shake ’til you feel better, get up offa that thing, and try to release that pressure.” When we cease moving, unhealthy things tend to collect in our bodies.

Walking, for me, is an activity that I enjoy by myself. It’s just me, my thoughts, and as noted, many times, my dogs. But I want to touch, too, on the health benefits of friendship and companionship.

Recently, I watched a short documentary film produced by Judd Apatow about the remarkable friendship between two comedians that I grew up with — the rather cerebral Bob Newhart and the relatively coarse Don Rickles. The two men and their wives, Barbara Rickles and Ginnie Newhart, made up an inseparable foursome that played, traveled and dined together and whose children played together.

The two men adored one another, and they gored one another, kiddingly, of course.

Asked by Conan O’Brien about their contrasting styles, Rickles said, “Bob is a brainy kind of comedian, and I’m the kind of guy who gets laughs.”

Years earlier at a Dean Martin roast, Newhart said about his dear friend, “Don has not done that well on television. He’s had four series now. The last one had a minus-4 Nielsen rating. This means not only that no one was watching the show, but several people without TV sets said they heard about the show and said if they got one, they wouldn’t watch it.”

Each man was gifted in his way, and both demonstrated the importance of being able to laugh at ourselves. It’s a healthy thing.

For all the mania about collecting friends on social media, I, like most people, have a few close buddies whose trust I value and whose advice I respect. They may have been business contacts in the first place or teammates on a softball team, and our friendships have organically evolved and endured over the years. Whenever I need a second opinion, they are there for me.

But my dearest companion and support is my wife, Cherie. Her patience is not inexhaustible, but her capacity for understanding is. She has made immeasurable contributions to my health and well-being, and I am immensely grateful.

Please enjoy this, the annual Health & Wellness edition of Tallahassee Magazine. You will be moved by writer Liesel Schmidt’s story about her triumph over an eating disorder, and you will be heartened by Steve Bornhoft’s story about plans by true communitarians Bill Wertman and Mark O’Bryant to provide our area with a continuum of accessible, affordable health care.

Be well,

Brian Rowland, Publisher
browland@rowlandpublishing.com