Mind Walks: 100 Easy Ways to Relieve Stress, Stay Motivated, and Nourish Your Soul [Paperback]

Mary H. Frakes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 21, 1999

A walk can be much more than great exercise -- if you know how to renew your body, mind, and spirit with a MindWalk. MindWalks combines easy, inspiring mental exercises and meditations, which help you make a simple walk more productive, relaxing and fun, with exquisitely written observations in the tradition of Thoreau's Walden.

More and more people are walking for exercise because it provides most of the benefit of running or aerobics without punishing stress on the body. MindWalks shows you how to double the benefit of your exercise by using the time to solve problems, reduce the impact of stress, manage your emotions, and enjoy the world around you more. With MindWalks, you make the most of your time by improving your mental state while you work on your physical well-being.

But MindWalks is more than just useful information. It opens your eyes to the everyday wonders that lie all around you if you know how to spot them. Done right, a MindWalk isn't just about exercise. It's also about inhaling the smell of crisp salt air at the beach. It's about spotting a jogger with a parakeet on her head. And it's about discovering one special thing each day that makes a walk worthwhile. In short, it's about enjoying yourself.

This collection of meditations and mental exercises use awareness, humor, and practical advice to turn a walk into exercise for both body and brain. MindWalks can be tucked into a pocket and taken on your walk. It makes a perfect gift for someone who already enjoys a walk -- or for someone who's thinking about starting. Because MindWalks makes walking more fun, it can motivate you to walk more often.

MindWalks will appeal to the growing number of baby boomers who want easier, more enjoyable ways to exercise while combating the stress of everyday life.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"MindWalks is a wonderful guide to the joy, delights, and peace to be discovered in walking...Thoreau once remarked that he knew of only a few who understood the art of walking. I think that had he read MindWalks, Thoreau would have added Mary Frakes to his short list." -- Lane Conn, Ph.D., The Ecopsychology Institute, Harvard University

"A good walk is second only to a cup of steaming tea with a cat purring on the lap. MindWalks shows how, once the tea is consumed and the cat has wandered off, a good long walk can cure a myriad of ills -- internal and external." -- Midwest Book Review, February 1999

"A truly peaceful book and companion to life." -- Dr. Richard Carlson, Author, Don't Sweat the Small Stuff...and It's All Small Stuff

"Smart, crisp prose...Not mere New Age psychobabble. Frakes manages to mix the practical, the humorous, and the spiritual in balanced doses." -- Boston Phoenix, December 25, 1999

"Take a moment, a cup of herbal tea, and a sunny window, and sink into Mary Frakes' inspiring prose about walking. You'll find motivation to find new paths, in walking and in life." -- Maggie Spilner, Walking Editor, PREVENTION Magazine

About the Author

Mary Frakes began taking daily walks in 1997 when she was on the corporate fast track and trying to decide whether to accept a promotion that required moving to a new city. More than three million Americans know her as the founding editor of the award-winning Stages Magazine, which helped demystify personal finance and investing for novice investors. Most recently, she collaborated with noted Internet strategist and speaker Chuck Martin on his new book, Net Future, interviewing dozens of executives and workers about how technology is affecting their businesses, careers, and lives. She now serves as Walks Chairman for WalkBoston, a pedestrian-advocacy group affiliated with the national organization PedNet.

Frakes also has edited two national consumer publications, and her writing also has appeared in such well-known publications as Life, Travel and Leisure, Elle Decor, CFO, Boston Magazine, Boston Business Magazine, Yankee, American Craft, Harvard Magazine, The Boston Globe, and Bostonia. A native of Memphis, Tennessee, she lives - and walks - in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 244 pages
• Publisher: Life Lessons; 1st edition (June 21, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0966787943
• ISBN-13: 978-0966787948
• Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 4.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #372,472 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Keep it Simple, July 25, 2000

By 

Stephanie Olson - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mind Walks: 100 Easy Ways to Relieve Stress, Stay Motivated, and Nourish Your Soul (Paperback)

A lot of books on relaxation and stress-reduction are complicated and time consuming. Mindwalks is so simple. The concepts are easy to understand and they are not easily lost when you begin your journey. Start off slow with the book because it is so easy to read the whole thing through. Read a couple of different mindwalks and actually attempt them on a walk. It makes the book so much more enjoyable. Two thumbs up to Mary Frakes for an excellent, simple, and inspirational book.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book that goes beyond New Ageyness or athletics, April 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Mind Walks: 100 Easy Ways to Relieve Stress, Stay Motivated, and Nourish Your Soul (Paperback)

This is a beautifully written book in the tradition of people like Thoreau who inspire us to examine what we're doing more thoroughly, and experience it more deeply. If Frakes's book recalls New Age inspirational writing, it goes far beyond that. Instead of improvised spirituality, there's a lot of authentic everyday wisdom. It's also good to see a book that proclaims not just the health benefits of exercise, but what it can do for our minds and souls. I'd recommend the book to anybody, but especially to boomers like myself who may not be jogging any more, and who are receptive to the suggestion to pay more attention to the outer and inner worlds. It's a unique book that I'll come back to for a long time.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A terrific inspiration, June 18, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Mind Walks: 100 Easy Ways to Relieve Stress, Stay Motivated, and Nourish Your Soul (Paperback)

I picked this up on a whim because the price was right, and boy, have I been glad I did! It goes so far beyond just reinforcing the mind/body connection as it relates to walking. It's beautifully written; I like to read one or two sections every day to get me inspired in the morning. It's helped me use my walks more creatively, and look at the world in a new way.

I can't recommend it highly enough.