ChiWalking: Fitness Walking for Lifelong Health and Energy

Good source for upping your walking game. Wish I had read it years ago.

Excellent for an aging walker like me I am 67 and like to walk 5K, 10K, and half-marathon events whenever I can (I've been running/walking since I was 28). However, the heel land, roll to the front, and push off from the toes technique was jarring my whole body. After recently watching a group of women runners using that technique, I realized how jarring the heel landing was. I stumbled across ChiWalking and have been using this method for the past few months - what a difference. One of the most important lessons I've learned is to constantly be aware of and adjust my body's alignment. I listen to the audible audio of this book while I am walking to reinforce the technique and make adjustments. I also purchased the ChiWalk-Run DVD and will be trying out this approach for my next half-marathon in October. Ever since watching one of the episodes of the Sharpe's series (starring Sean Bean) on BBCAmerica several years ago, the episode in which he and two other men out-marched the rest of their group by doing a combination walk-run has fascinated me (I think it was the Sharpe's Rifles episode). It will sure get me to the finish line a lot faster than just walking.

**** "ChiWalking: The Five Mindful Steps for Lifelong Health and Energy" is a life-changing book for a walker. ChiWalking is essentially a way of using the body's energy system to maximize your walking experience. This encompasses a variety of things, from the form or posture you use when walking, to how you move, to what you think of or meditate on or focus on, and much more. Before I started ChiWalking, I had a lot of pain in my left hip. Since learning the ChiWalking technique, I have no more hip pain. However, I availed myself of much more than just the ChiWalking book. I started with the book, and thus understood what I needed to do and why. I am not very good at translating something from a book to action, so I wasn't able to duplicate the movements on my own from just the book alone. I would not blame this on the book, however, because the book is very clear, and would be really beneficial for those readers who can pick up mechanical movements from illustrations and exposition. I then purchased the ChiWalking DVD, which helped a lot. I saw people practicing what I had read about in the book. Still, I could not translate that into action, mainly because of my learning limitations. However, it excited me and motivated me to take a ChiWalking seminar in a nearby large city. In the seminar I received feedback as to what I was doing wrong. This was what was most helpful to me. Without the book, however, I would not have had the background to fully implement the instruction I received or to really incorporate it into my walking practice. The ChiWalking book thoroughly explains theory and practice behind ChiWalking. It is where you should start to find out if ChiWalking can help you to be a better walker. It explains all steps, skills, technique, how to design a personal program, variations such as hiking, off-road walking, and treadmill walking, plus various specially designed walks to develop your "chi" or overall energy. If you love to walk, you should own this book. If you want to walk, but have had problems doing so, you should own this book. Even if you just implement the proper form in your walking, you will benefit from reading "ChiWalking". If you are intrigued at all by the idea of your personal energy system and walking, I would highly recommend this book. ****

At age 72, I walk briskly 3+ miles everyday, sort of a half jog, using the guidelines in this book. For those who received no benefit, or who found it difficult, I would say: perhaps you don't understand completely how to do this; perhaps a workshop or talking with someone who does understand will help. This method is based on qigong and yoga, prevents shin splints, calf tightness, heel-striking problems, and, used wisely, lower back problems and tightness between the shoulder blades. Encourages focus, breathing correctly, postural, mental and energetic alignment, purposeful exercise. Highly recommended.

This book will motivate you to get out and walk. The five mindful steps of ChiWalking are described in depth including alignment and balance. Chi skills, i.e., flexibility and breathing are discussed along with ChiWalking techniques. Twelve different walking plans are provided allowing you to design your own walking program. My personal favorite in the book is the section on hiking. I do, however, have one small complaint. The covers on my copy, both front and back, curl up like a paper towel roll. While not critical to the contents, it could have an adverse impact on the longevity of the book if you, like me, reference the information multiple times and then bend the covers while sliding it back in the bookcase. Even with the curly covers, though, this is one of the best walking guides I've read and I would definitely recommend it for your walking pleasure.

I thought I knew how to walk, even though I continually hurt my calves. Quit walking? Not willing, so enter Chi Walking and Chi Running! It has taken several years, but now I am walking completely differently, and finally have no pain! Unintended side benefit: I can walk on ice without slipping and without fear. I may get back to running even, if I choose. Thank you Danny Dreyer, Katherine Dreyer, and your publisher, editor, and everyone else connected with this project! I think of you often, share your ideas with others, and continually monitor my movements with an open mind that there is always a better way.

This is an interesting book but like its companion, Chi Running, does not completely explain the technique. These products are leads to additional purchases of DVD, etx. I gave it three stars as it does provide informational and I assume with the DVD would give the full Monty.

Lo estoy leyendo. Al envío y recepción sin problemas. En cuanto al sistema, yo he seguido muchos años el Chi Running, ahora no puedo correr y estoy utilizando el Chi Walking. No es tan fácil ni tan maravilloso como indica pero sí que funciona.

Is it possible that one simple choice will change your life dramatically? Taking a daily walk for a specific amount of time seems so simple that - surely - we need to do something much more complicated and drastic than just going for a walk... I specialise in helping people "get better", losing weight, overcoming addiction, pain control and a few other things and was really lucky to have someone recommend this book to me - because I collect books - and am always on the lookout for helpful information. Chi Walking takes two seemingly unrelated processes - Tai Chi and Walking - and integrates and enhances both processes... I was wondering before I got this book how someone could write a couple of hundred pages on something as simple as going for a walk... I must also add that I personally walk for one hour every day - and have done for a few years - ever since I "got ill" and made a choice to do something about it. Anyway, I learnt loads of useful stuff almost as soon as I opened the book. And even more importantly - stuff I could use and teach immediately... I have suffered from a "bad back " intermittently for the last 10 years - this is what enabled me to become an expert in addiction, weight loss, psychotherapy and a few other things because I had the ideal patient - me - and funnily enough just after buying this book my back went again. Using the information in this book enabled me to go from "doubled over" to "upright again" in less than 24 hours - a new wellness record - even for me... The last time my back went - I was buying fruit and vegetables to "juice" - picked up a box of oranges at the wholesale market and my back "went" - life's funny like that... Chi Walking is about integrating five mindful steps into your life and using walking as the vehicle to do this. The authors cover the five mindful steps in detail and also cover stretching, different types of walking, technique, diet and quite a lot of other helpful information and cover it in such a way that it encourages you to "try it and see what happens". I cannot emphasise enough how grateful I am for "Amazon", the ease of buying books and the sheer wealth" of information currently on offer at the click of a button - although my addiction to buying books is another issue I'm currently wondering about... Anyway, I was walking round my local park this morning and noticing my own walking and breathing technique, fine tuning it and also looking at others - and my "power hour" flew past. It also made my walk much more interesting because I could notice how something I was unaware of - my arm swinging technique - would actually put my hips under pressure - because of alignment issues. And how many other people can benefit from the authors wisdom - probably 99% of the population... There are 11 chapters and an introduction and for me - the best part of the book was page 66 in chapter 4 (Chi Walking technique) where they cover using a one minute timer on your stopwatch or more likely smartphone to practice focusing on mindful chi technique - and more importantly and simply - practicing walking with a friend. And I reckon that's one of the secrets of "getting better" - simply walking and talking and focusing on "getting better"... Great book - and whereas my recommendation with diet books is to read it whilst walking round your local park for an hour - I can now quote from Danny and Katherine about why it's so important to walk - and to engage your Chi...

I discovered about 10 years ago that walking was causing pain in my body and I had begun to experiment with ways of using my body to shift my weight in a more efficient manner and in ways that could eliminate stress. Although I had found ways to improve my experience, I appreciated enormously the work of Danny Dreyer in which I further learned that not only the process of shoving off from my hind foot, as in cross-country skiing, I discovered that the way I held my pelvis was the true key to the finding of an efficient process. As someone who has carried and given birth more than several times, I have very poor abdominal muscles, and when I use the process of holding my pelvis in alignment I have discovered that I have reduced the incidence of back pain, tightened my abdominal muscles, and now am moving with much more ease and comfort. I see clients regularly who have back and foot pain to whom I am teaching this process. They are loving it, moving much more, without pain, and gradually losing weight.

C'est un livre très riche, avec beaucoup de renseignements et qui donne beaucoup d'idées. Cependant on retrouve beaucoup du premier livre sur le ChiRunning. Il aurait été difficile de faire autrement.

A lovely book. With just about 25% into the book, I got relief from shin splints, plantar fasciitis, improved speed and most importantly, as stressed in the book - injury free running.