I love walking. It is like a religion to me. You can wake me up in the middle of the night and ask me if I could come for a walk, and I'll come. Walking makes me happy. Maybe, that is how I have survived so many hikes, so many treks. I just walked. Half the metaphors I write are about paths, trails and terrains- all linked to walking!
So when a few days ago, I woke up to a sharp pain in my heels, it threatened something I held dear. I had to know why.
And so began the search. Pronation, Overpronation, Supination, Arch Support, Plantar Fasciitis. The terms helped me come know what was happening and why but I did not like where they were leading me as a solution-" Buy a nice cushioned pair of shoes with a thick tongue and support for your arch", they said. It felt logical but something was missing. Till yesterday.
"Born to run" is a book about the Tarahumara (Tara-oo-mara), a tribe in Mexico known for their unbelievable running abilities. As Chris Mcdougall, who wrote the book, describes. a 60-70 mile run over an inhospitable terrain with stone walls and dry cold is nothing. They do it like a warm up. For them, it is fun.
So, here I am, walking a few miles everyday, in my modern nike and addidas and I get heel pain. While they have nothing but pieces of leather strapped to their feet and they run till the terrain ends and that too with no pain.
How? If I were to simplify it to one word, it is love.
Love for running. They just love it. It bring them joy. It makes them happy. Perhaps a primeval feeling that we all get when we stretch our legs and run. The trees zipping past, the wind in the hair, the throbbing of the heart as the legs kiss the ground. The mind goes quiet. What is there to not love, I ask. It is hard wired into us. It is how we travelled for centuries. And then chose comfort and efficiency. Yes, we can now go to London in 8 hours but maybe we lost something more basic on the way.
But I am digressing. What I wanted to say is that if you really love something and you dont let someone tell you how much of it should you do, just do it. An 80 year old Tarahumara grandfather can run 100 miles because he loves it and because no one told him that he could not.
In a strange way, my search for freedom from heel pain led me to another alley of insights. It solved another question that had been on my mind for a while.
You see, I love working and over the past few months, I have heard so many people and friends wonder why I should work so much. Especially, on Sundays. Take a break, they say. And every time I rested, it felt strange, sad and unnatural. It did not serve to rejuvenate, it only broke the rhythm. And now I am beginning to understand why.
I guess I am made that way. Work brings me joy. Thinking through a new course, teaching a subject, designing a seminar or writing a report nourishes me. I can work hours and then a few more. I know it might sound strange but that is how I feel and now I am beginning to be ok with it.
Does it take a toll on social life? Not at all. Because when I stop, I am more happy to reach out and talk to friends. I am more aware of the of the cloudless skies in the afternoon or the headlights of the cars as they crawl through the roads at night. I am more in tune with myself and less cribbing of life in general. Is it tiring? Of course, it is. But, it is the kind of happy exhaustion which make thoughts cease and make me reach out for the bed at night.
I dont know if I would solve the puzzle of plantar fasciitis or whatever is the cause of this heel pain. But I do know that the answer lies somewhere connected to what I LOVE doing and if I keep walking on that path and being in rhythm with myself, irrespective of what others think is actually possible, I am sure that it wont be long before I discover what will make it disappear.
And as for the Tarahumara, bless them for telling me this.
So when a few days ago, I woke up to a sharp pain in my heels, it threatened something I held dear. I had to know why.
And so began the search. Pronation, Overpronation, Supination, Arch Support, Plantar Fasciitis. The terms helped me come know what was happening and why but I did not like where they were leading me as a solution-" Buy a nice cushioned pair of shoes with a thick tongue and support for your arch", they said. It felt logical but something was missing. Till yesterday.
"Born to run" is a book about the Tarahumara (Tara-oo-mara), a tribe in Mexico known for their unbelievable running abilities. As Chris Mcdougall, who wrote the book, describes. a 60-70 mile run over an inhospitable terrain with stone walls and dry cold is nothing. They do it like a warm up. For them, it is fun.
So, here I am, walking a few miles everyday, in my modern nike and addidas and I get heel pain. While they have nothing but pieces of leather strapped to their feet and they run till the terrain ends and that too with no pain.
How? If I were to simplify it to one word, it is love.
Love for running. They just love it. It bring them joy. It makes them happy. Perhaps a primeval feeling that we all get when we stretch our legs and run. The trees zipping past, the wind in the hair, the throbbing of the heart as the legs kiss the ground. The mind goes quiet. What is there to not love, I ask. It is hard wired into us. It is how we travelled for centuries. And then chose comfort and efficiency. Yes, we can now go to London in 8 hours but maybe we lost something more basic on the way.
But I am digressing. What I wanted to say is that if you really love something and you dont let someone tell you how much of it should you do, just do it. An 80 year old Tarahumara grandfather can run 100 miles because he loves it and because no one told him that he could not.
In a strange way, my search for freedom from heel pain led me to another alley of insights. It solved another question that had been on my mind for a while.
You see, I love working and over the past few months, I have heard so many people and friends wonder why I should work so much. Especially, on Sundays. Take a break, they say. And every time I rested, it felt strange, sad and unnatural. It did not serve to rejuvenate, it only broke the rhythm. And now I am beginning to understand why.
I guess I am made that way. Work brings me joy. Thinking through a new course, teaching a subject, designing a seminar or writing a report nourishes me. I can work hours and then a few more. I know it might sound strange but that is how I feel and now I am beginning to be ok with it.
Does it take a toll on social life? Not at all. Because when I stop, I am more happy to reach out and talk to friends. I am more aware of the of the cloudless skies in the afternoon or the headlights of the cars as they crawl through the roads at night. I am more in tune with myself and less cribbing of life in general. Is it tiring? Of course, it is. But, it is the kind of happy exhaustion which make thoughts cease and make me reach out for the bed at night.
I dont know if I would solve the puzzle of plantar fasciitis or whatever is the cause of this heel pain. But I do know that the answer lies somewhere connected to what I LOVE doing and if I keep walking on that path and being in rhythm with myself, irrespective of what others think is actually possible, I am sure that it wont be long before I discover what will make it disappear.
And as for the Tarahumara, bless them for telling me this.
