We keep hearing the same jokes on our walks from passers-by: "Where is the snow?", "It's 50 miles to the mountains". 🙂 Many people do not understand why we walk with poles on the flat trails around West London.
They don't understand that Nordic Walking is a high intensity sport which can be done both in the mountains and the low lands.  It is done with a special technique and is - even on flat terrain - much better for your health and fitness than regular walking. Here are a few reasons why it is has superior impact:

Still in lockdown…. is your family getting bored with the same local walk again and again?  You can't get the kids in the park any more? Spice your walk up by creating some games that you can play while walking,  interacting with nature and watching wildlife. 

If you are a ‘fair weather walker’, you will miss about a third of the year in the UK, as the terrain is usually muddy in winter. This is a bit of a shame, as being outdoors in winter is good for your immune system and mental wellbeing. And mud gives you a special workout (a bit like walking on soft sand or in deep snow). It can be safe if you use the right technique. Here are a few tips:

Dear Nordic Walkers – here are a few tips how you can make the best of your private walks during lockdown. It is important not to lose your good technique during this time when you won't get any feedback; you will have to self-observe and self-correct a bit more.

In our Tai Chi Chuan class, we sometimes practice applications; we talk about the meaning of a certain move for self-defence, and we work with each other to train some of these moves. Why? Isn’t Tai Chi more of a moving meditation exercise? Yes and no...

Nordic walking is so much more than a 'sport'. It is a great fitness workout, and also an opportunity to work on mindfulness, connect to nature, and create new friendships.
Today on our walk, inspired by a melancholic autumn morning, some of our walkers started to recite their favorite poetry. Here are a few examples of the poems that came up. "The world was made to be free in..."