Walking or The Tao of Healing

Walking: A Complete Guide to the Complete Exercise

Author: Casey Meyers

“A GIANT STEP FOR IMPROVING THE HEALTH OF MANKIND.”
–Kenneth H. Cooper, M.D., M.P.H.

It’s true: walking, the primary gait we use every day, is actually the safest, least expensive, and overall most beneficial way to lose weight and improve cardiovascular health.

Casey Meyers was diagnosed in 1995 at high risk for stroke or heart attack, and he has been out daily walking for his life–literally. Meyers (a fit and active 79) has conducted hundreds of walking clinics nationwide. In this revised and updated classic, he shows you how to achieve a healthier, happier life through exercise-walking. He tells you exactly what you need to know, including:

Benefits: weight loss, weight maintenance, losing fat, gaining muscle
Walking guidelines: how often, how far, how fast?
Pacing yourself: the stroll, brisk walking, and aerobic walking
Warm-ups: targeted stretches, posture, rhythm, and stride length
Gear: shoes, socks, and athletic dress for all types of weather
Safety: best times and places for secure exercise-walking
Lifestyle: eating smart, yoga, meditation
Questions and answers: the twelve biggest concerns of exercise-walkers

Walking is unrivaled in depth and breadth, truly comprehensive and invaluable for exercise-walkers at every level of fitness.

“Easy to follow and practical for people from eight to eighty.”
–Publishers Weekly

Publishers Weekly

Meyers ( Aerobic Walking ) is a man with a mission. He knows that walking is often viewed as the stepchild of aerobic exercise, suitable only for the out-of-shape. And he wants to correct that misconception: in his latest book, he argues that walkers can achieve out of context, `produce' a clumsy verb ``the cardiovascular fitness level and caloric expenditure of a runner without the injuries.''44 Meyers also believes that perambulation has a ``potential cross-training effect'' for people devoted to other sports--skiing, cycling, running, tennis.15 To demonstrate why walking for fitness works, he explains the biomechanics of the evolution of the human gait, with a nod to Lucy, our famous three-million-year-old female forebear.18 He recognizes that a lifetime fitness see below program108 must be sounds like Marxist jargon? simple enough for casual exercisers and yet challenging enough to maintain their interest. His walking program increases aerobic conditioning using intensity (how fast), frequency (how often), and duration (how far).60 In chatty prose, he extols the virtues of gradually increasing one's pace from strolling to brisk walking, with the goal being a 12-minute mile. He also dispenses advice on everything from stretching62 and diet216 to road safety 184 and how to choose a shoe174 . His design for fitness may not be glamorous, but it is inexpensive, easy to follow and practical for people from eight to 80. Author tour. (Apr.)

Library Journal

In his second book on walking, Meyers ( Aerobic Walking , Random, 1987) goes beyond ``how to'' and argues for walking's absolute supremacy as a method of weight loss and cardiovascular fitness. He backs up his assertions with scientific evidence, though he admits this evidence often runs counter to much of current thought. His arguments would be more easily acceptable if he did not harp on his feeling that the rest of the world gives walking short shrift (runners, he says, hold walkers in ``contempt''), and if he did not see fit to chop down other forms of exercise in order to elevate his own. Still, his book will stimulate some to give walking a try, and Meyers offers sound technical advice. Recommended with reservations for larger exercise collections.--Jim Burns, Broward Cty. Lib. System, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

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The Tao of Healing: Meditations for Body and Spirit

Author: Haven Trevino

Haven Trevino, a lifelong student of Taoism, was in the final stages of Lou Gehrig's disease when he wrote this book. His modern adaptation of the Tao Te Ching captures the power, depth, and simplicity of the ancient work, which lends itself beautifully to the subject of healing. These meditations offer insight, humor, and hope to both healers and those in need of healing.