60. Walking with old bodies, Parkinson’s, and Jennifer Andrewes
Walking with old bodies can change so slowly that we hardly notice. When we are old, we are tempted to walk with extreme caution, shrinking the natural movements of our legs, ankles, arms, head and eyes. We might assume, perhaps subconsciously, that small careful stiff tight shuffling steps are safer: but the opposite is true. Similar symptoms affect people with a condition much more serious than mere old age: Parkinson’s Disease. Jennifer consciously fights this tendency, and so can we, even if we’re lucky enough to be healthy.
Jennifer Andrewes was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease at the age of 48. She launched herself into walking seriously — or rather, joyfully — as a way of slowing the progression of PD. She has now walked four extremely long caminos and so of course she has much to teach us about walking on the earth.
Soon after the diagnosis she decided this: “While I could walk, I would walk. And while I would walk, I could walk.”
In this lovely conversation, Jennifer describes in detail her experience with big walks, enormous walks and little walks, like stepping outside the front door. Mind, body and spirit are all at work and all enriched. She talks of the intense focus, or mindfulness, she applies to every step. Then in a complete turnaround, she tells us how walking can also free your mind, detach it from your worries. Jennifer’s revelations are also practical, realistic, and surprisingly relevant to those of us walking with old bodies.
This episode energises me at 86! I hope you like it as much as I do. If so, you might change one of your tiny walking habits — and please, tell a friend.
- Books by Jennifer Andrewes: myparallellives.com
- Parkinson’s New Zealand
- The way of the walker: from my blog
- Walking back home: joy of serendipitous footpath art — from my blog
- Walking in lock-down on Mount Victoria — from my blog
