National Walking Day

The National Heart Association has declared April 6 as National Walking Day!

Pop on your walking shoes or sneakers, and if the weather is good, head outside for a while. If it's not where you live, pop a Leslie Sansone video on! You cal always find some of her walks on YouTube if you don't own any.

It doesn't matter how fast or how far - just go!

Now for Some Gentle Exercise

With my degenerative disc disease and cervical neuritis, as well as plantar fasciitis and a multitude of other musculo-skeletal problems, I really can't do full impact aerobics. Both my primary care doc and podiatrist said exercise like qigong and tai chi are perfect for me, and I have a number of DVD's from Lee Holden and his mother Karen and Robert Bates, DC that I enjoy doing.

This one is one of my favorites from Lee: Qi Gong for Weight Loss:
 

from his mother Karen: Exercise to Heal: Get Stronger:


and this is the first video from Dr. Bates: Fun With Qigong: The Five Flows


Sometimes even those are too much for my back and I have to do yoga, instead. This video from Sally Pugh, Expanding into Fullness, Yoga for Large Women, does quite nicely in stretching the body without doing any more damage:



And when things are going well and I have no back or foot pains, I can then return to my favorite exercise instructors,  Leslie Sansone



and my first exercise love, Richard Simmons.



And Richard has announced he's releasing 10 new videos any day now - I can't wait! I may not be able to do all the steps with this 59 year old body, but I do try. The results are usually  more hysterical than Richard's get-ups!