Navigating a Whackadoodle World: Episode 40, or A few tips for defeating Entropy
A Whackadoodle discussion concerning the Power of Entropy on our bodies, emotions, mind, and spirit, along with a few tips about wellness.
Click here if you would like to view Navigating a Whackadoodle World’s Table of Contents
She was insistent when she brought up how we should write our next article about Guidepost Eleven, “The past few times we’ve cycled through the Power of Entropy, our discussion has gotten pretty dark. This time I want to keep it upbeat.”
“How do you propose to do that?” I asked.
“Well, I think we should focus on your original seven major life assets: body, emotions, mind, spirit, environment, finances, and relationships.”
“That’s an awful lot to focus on for one episode.”
“Well, how about we focus on the first four: body, emotions, mind, spirit.” she suggested. “They all kind of get fed by the same nutrients, right?”
“Okay, so you want to lighten the mood,” I mused. “How about we start with a riddle? What is the best exercise for maintaining maximum wellness?”
“Wouldn’t it be something that builds strength, flexibility, and cardio…whatever it’s called? Maybe something like swimming?”
“Urrr,” I made what I hoped was a buzzer sound. “While I agree that swimming is a marvelous form of exercise, indeed one of my personal favorites, it is not the best exercise for maintaining maximum wellness.”
“So what is the best exercise for maintaining maximum wellness?” she asked with a touch of sarcasm.
“It’s any exercise you actually like to do. If you like gardening, it’s gardening. If you like yoga, it’s yoga. If you like bowling, it’s bowling. If you like dancing, it’s dancing. It’s actually any enjoyment that keeps you moving and active. Activities like that really do feed your body, emotions, mind, and spirit all at once.”
“Well, that wasn’t an obvious answer at all,” she said. This time the sarcasm was dripping.
“Tell you what,” I laughed. “Why don’t we introduce people to the Blue Zone Project, and call it a day.”
“What’s the Blue Zone Project?”
“It’s an organization that promotes healthy communities and life styles.” I explained. “I’ve been subscribing to their Newsletter for a couple of years now. They always have tips on exercise, recipes, lifestyles, wellness in general. Their name is derived from something called Blue Zones, regions in the world where people claim to live longer and healthier than the average homo sapien.”
“What kind of tips do they send you?”
“Some obvious, some kind of cool. Some anecdotal, some scientific. There was one recently on Forest or Nature Bathing: Ancient Practices, Modern Uses, and the Science of Relaxation. I like that one quite a bit.” I got out my iPad to look up the article. “Here’s how the article begins,” I said and began reading:
Forest bathing, or bathing in nature, may not be what you think. It’s not using waterfalls for nature showers, though that could be part of it; and it’s not using roots, flowers, or leaves from trees for bathing with, though that’s a common forest bathing practice in Asia. It is more than that.
What is forest or nature bathing?
To bathe in the forest or nature means to bask in it. Your five senses take it in. You smell the flowers; you taste the wild blackberries; you see the tall and magnificent trees, some of which may have been there for centuries. You hear the sounds of nature around you, from the cicada’s tymbal to the birds chirping, and the frogs croaking. You feel the forest deep within your soul. It is transforming.
I looked up, “The article then goes on to give different ways that communities are providing forest spaces for their citizens, along with some of the science behind nature therapy. There is another pretty cool article called The Art of Walking (Without Distracting Devices). Let me read a quote.” I made a few clicks and found the article.
These days, it’s difficult to understand the point of doing something, or doing anything, without an underlying aim. We typically walk in order to get somewhere: the grocery store, the yoga studio, the water cooler. We need to walk the dog, or we walk in protest for a cause. We walk to get in shape, tallying up our steps on a Fitbit or smartwatch. Perambulation becomes a matter of proving, achieving, gaining, winning, meeting a concrete objective. There is something both funny and sad about orienting our walking exclusively around such discrete ends. The frantic attempt to get somewhere, and to be on time about it, amounts to a Sisyphean struggle against the clock: when we reach a destination, we must immediately set off again, intent on the next stopping place. The point of the journey is no more than to ‘get there’. Moving our feet is just the drudgery endured between moments of rest.
“Sounds kind of cool,” she admitted. “Especially for someone your age. For me, I kind of like the idea of dance walking.”
“And what is dance walking?”
“Let me show you,” she said grabbing for my iPad. She did a quick search and passed it back to me. “Here, watch this.”
“Hey, I’m not too old for that,” I protested. “It looks like fun, so if you ever decide to go dance walking, be sure to invite me. Besides, laughing is always good exercise, and I have a feeling that dance walking would make me laugh.”
“Glad you liked it,” she said, sighing softy. “So, do you think I should sign up for that Blue Zone Newsletter?”
“Well, it’s never a bad idea to get an occasional email reminding you to take care of yourself and others. It’s never a bad idea to remind oneself that entropy is at work on even young people like you.”