Great place for a walk
Solvitur Ambulando or “It is Solved by Walking” a saying attributed to Augustine of Hippo back in 345 – 430 AD.
It’s curious how often “I’m stuck” is a literal description of what I’m doing with my body. Sat still, not moving, tense shoulders, jaw held too tight, probably over caffeinated and generally the opposite of free.
“I’m stumped” often finds me literally in the position of a stump. Cut off from fresh air, fixed in one position, rooted to the spot.
“I’m clueless” does not find me actively looking for clues, it generally finds me immobile.
Could it be that your very language is more literal than you realise and also suggests the solution. Stuck? You need to free yourself. Stumped? Lift your roots and stretch. Clueless? Go looking, you won’t find them standing still.
Could it be that some insight into what you really want lies out there on a walk? When was the last time you just went for a walk – not for fitness or an errand but just an apparently pointless noodle about purely for the pleasure of moving?
“The imagination needs moodling,–long, inefficient happy idling, dawdling and puttering.” — Brenda Ueland (writer)
One of the benefits of moving large muscle groups is that it activates your lymph system. Unlike your blood system, your lymph system has no pump. It relies on muscle contractions to move waste products around and out of your body. Maybe, and I have no science for this, staying still for too long robs the body of the chance to clear congestion easily. Would it be too much to suggest that congested thoughts are also unblocked by moving our large muscle groups.
It is solved by walking. Maybe the old boy was onto something.
