A curated collection of papers, provocations and actions from the 'Walking's New Movements' conference held at the University of Plymouth in November 2019
A curated collection of papers, provocations and actions from the 'Walking's New Movements' conference held at the University of Plymouth in November 2019
One morning in 2011, Libby DeLana stepped outside her New England home for a walk. She did the same thing the next day, and the next. It became a daily habit that has culminated in her walking over 25,000 miles - the equivalent of the earth's circumference. In Do Walk, Libby shares the transformative nature of this simple yet powerful practice. She reveals how walking each day provides the time and space to reconnect with the world around us; process thoughts; improve our physical wellbeing; and unlock creativity. It is the ultimate navigational tool that helps us to see who we are - beyond titles and labels, and where we want to go. With stunning photography, this inspiring and reflective guide is an invitation to step outside, and see where the path takes us.
Imagine a graph with two lines. One indicates happiness, the other tracks how you feel about your body. If you’re like millions of people, the lines do not intersect. But what if they did? This practical, inspirational, and visually lively book shows you how to create a healthier and happier life by treating yourself with compassion rather than shame. It shows the way to a sense of well-being attained by understanding how to love, connect, and care for yourself—and that includes your mind as well as your body. Body Kindness is based on four principles. WHAT YOU DO: the choices you make about food, exercise, sleep, and more HOW YOU FEEL: befriending your emotions and standing up to the unhelpful voice in your head WHO YOU ARE: goal-setting based on your personal values WHERE YOU BELONG: body-loving support from people and communities that help you create a meaningful life With mind and body exercises to keep your energy spiraling up and prompts to help you identify what YOU really want and care about, Body Kindness helps you let go of things you can't control and embrace the things you can by finding the workable, daily steps that fit you best. Think of it as the anti-diet book that leads to a more joyful and meaningful life!
Walking upright on two feet is a uniquely human skill. It defines us as a species. It enabled us to walk out of Africa and to spread as far as Alaska and Australia. It freed our hands and freed our minds. We put one foot in front of the other without thinking - yet how many of us know how we do that, or appreciate the advantages it gives us? In this hymn to walking, neuroscientist Shane O'Mara invites us to marvel at the benefits it confers on our bodies and minds. In Praise of Walking celebrates this miraculous ability. Incredibly, it is a skill that has its evolutionary origins millions of years ago, under the sea. And the latest research is only now revealing how the brain and nervous system performs the mechanical magic of balancing, navigating a crowded city, or running our inner GPS system. Walking is good for our muscles and posture; it helps to protect and repair organs, and can slow or turn back the ageing of our brains. With our minds in motion we think more creatively, our mood improves and stress levels fall. Walking together to achieve a shared purpose is also a social glue that has contributed to our survival as a species. As our lives become increasingly sedentary, we risk all this. We must start walking again, whether it's up a mountain, down to the park, or simply to school and work. We, and our societies, will be better for it.
In every movement of our bodies, we express a world of emotions. But our movements don't just reflect our emotions-they directly affect them. In Walking Your Talk, Lavinia Plonka explores the connection between how we move and how we feel. Our movements and body posture are more than just simple expressions of our feelings-they are a powerful factor in our well-being. And changing them can be a crucial first step in altering our emotional behaviors. Drawing from her years of experience as a movement teacher and Feldenkrais Method(r) instructor, Plonka provides simple exercises, thought-provoking lessons, and real-life examples that help readers better understand the relationship between their movement patterns and their emotional state. After beginning with an overview of both historical and modern ideas about the correlation between bodily movement and human emotion and expression, Plonka turns theory into practice by addressing each major area of the body-and the emotional baggage held there. Through exploratory exercises, we learn more about: - how we carry stress-from responsibilities, family issues, and financial burdens-in our shoulders; - why we "freeze" the pelvis-the bodily center of personal freedom, power, spontaneity, and sexuality; and - the self-confidence (or lack thereof) we convey through our carriage. Whether she is examining how a depressed chest can make us feel psychologically depressed, how body language is used to deceive others, or how loosening our pelvis can help us break a lifelong cycle of self-destructive behavior, Plonka is always caring and insightful, guiding readers to a deeper awareness of themselves and how changing their posture has the potential to change their whole lives.
Walking surveys the proliferation of pedestrian practices across contemporary art, taking an avowedly political stance on where and how the three practices of art, walking, and writing intersect. Across the world, walking is a vital way to assert one’s presence in public space and discourse. Walking maps the terrain of contemporary walking practices, foregrounding work by Black artists, Indigenous artists and artists of colour, working-class artists, LGBTQI+ artists, disabled artists and neurodiverse artists, as well as many more who are frequently denied the right to take their places in public space, not only in the street or the countryside, but also in art discourse. This anthology contends that, as a relational practice, walking inevitably touches upon questions of access, public space, land ownership, and use. Walking is, therefore, always a political act. Artists surveyed include Stanley Brouwn, Laura Grace Ford, Regina Jose Galindo, Emily Hesse, Tehching Hsieh, Kongo Astronauts, Myriam Lefkowitz, Sharon Kivland, Andre Komatsu, Steve McQueen, Jade Montserrat, Sara Morawetz, Paulo Nazareth, Carmen Papalia, Ingrid Pollard, Issa Samb, Sop, Iman Tajik, Tentative Collective, Anna Zvyagintseva. Writers include Jason Allen-Paisant, Tanya Barson, André Brasil, Amanda Cachia, Sarah Jane Cervenak, Annie Dillard, Jacques Derrida, Dwayne Donald, Darby English, Édouard Glissant, Steve Graby, Antje von Graevenitz, Stefano Harney and Fred Moten, Elise Misao Hunchuck, Kathleen Jamie, Carl Lavery, JeeYeun Lee, Michael Marder, Gabriella Nugent, Isobel Parker Philip, Rebecca Solnit.
This encyclopaedia will be an indispensable resource and recourse for all who are thinking about cities and the urban, and the relation of cities to literature, and to ways of writing about cities. Covering a vast terrain, this work will include entries on theorists, individual writers, individual cities, countries, cities in relation to the arts, film and music, urban space, pre/early and modern cities, concepts and movements and definitions amongst others. Written by an international team of contributors, this will be the first resource of its kind to pull together such a comprehensive overview of the field.
Learn to walk with purpose and clarity. Each and every day we do things that, though potentially rewarding, are too easily taken for granted or performed on auto-pilot. 5-Minute Mindfulness: Walking is designed to help you take a mindful approach to these commonplance experiences and activities, making them more enjoyable, fulfilling, and relaxing. Walking is the perfect activity for reflecting and relaxing. Approached mindfully, it can provide a window of calm in our everyday routine. And yet we tend to focus on simply getting from A to B, giving little thought to how this time might be used more productively. 5-Minute Mindfulness: Walking contains thought-provoking essays and short exercises that will help you follow the path to inner calm while on the move as well as meditations that can be completed in just five minutes. "Five Second Thought" feature boxes that take just a few moments to read will give you food for thought for an entire day. These books work in harmony with the fast pace of modern life.
This edited collection aims to provoke discussion around the most important question for contemporary higher education – what kind of education (in terms of purpose, pedagogy and policy) is needed to restore the health and wellbeing of the planet and ourselves now and for generations to come? The book contains contributions from colleagues at a single UK University, internationally recognised for its approach to sustainability education. Introducing a conceptual framework called the ‘Paradox Model’, the book explores the tensions that underpin the challenge of developing sustainability in higher education in the 21st century. It asks probing questions about the purpose of higher education in the 21st century given growing concerns in relation to planetary safety and justice and calls for a rethinking of educational purpose. It draws upon the theory and practice of education and explores how these can develop an understanding of sustainability pedagogies in practice. Finally, it delivers thought-provoking discussion on what constitutes a ‘good’ higher education that meets the needs of a world in crisis. Drawing on a planetary health lens, the book concludes with a ‘manifesto’ that brings together the key insights from the contributing authors. This will be an engaging volume for academics and educators from a wide range of disciplines in higher educational settings interested in translating sustainability theory into educational practice.