Everywhere, there is movement in this expanse of trees and grass and temples. All ages–from 9 to 99–are here, practicing Tai-chi and Sword Arts, swinging their arms, rubbing their kidneys, rotating their waists, and hanging from low-hanging tree branches (to stretch their spines).

Amid all this, is one thing which makes me rub my sleepy eyes and search again: groups of women are walking backwards in the lane. This: walking backwards, calmly and confidently.

This ancient exercise (yes! It’s an exercise!) is among the treasures of Chinese health practice, addressing issues of balance, leg strength, back strength, and posture. It might appear simple, though the reasons why this is a good practice are profound. Once you a few:

1. As our bodies age, our fear of falling makes us react wrongly. When babies fall backwards, they only plump into a sitting position, however tendency disappears as we grow older. Many falls wind up going backward because we arch our backs. Walking backwards rounds that a part of our back that people arch, and encourages ‘forward’ muscle use.

2. Everything that is wrong about your posture originated walking forward! Slumping, slouching, rounding, arching…all those undesirable habits. Walking backwards reverses these habits.

3. From an energetics standpoint, walking backwards actually re-frames consciousness within our bodies. The easy explanation is always that our attention has a tendency to favor the leading individuals bodies to the exclusion of what is behind us. Chinese health insurance and martial exercises both encourage ‘whole body’ awareness for ‘whole body’ health. Walking backwards results in a ‘sensor’ to integrate el born area.

4. Walking backwards actually engages totally different sets of muscles. This is important especially as our bodies age, since we lose flexibility and our mobility often diminishes. Through the use of different muscles we exercise elements of our body that require attention.

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