The Sneh Lata - Walk With Your Parents
On 15th October it’ll be the second death anniversary of my mom. On 5th January 2020, her birthday, we put together the first edition of The Sneh Lata – Walk With Your Parents at & fully supported by GMR Aerocity, Delhi. 600+ people showed up with their parents & children & loved the experience.
This festive season, from 15th October to 14th November 2021, go out with your parents & children, it could be one day, all weekends or as many days as you can. Spend quality time with your loved ones.
Also, the best gift you can give your loved ones is a healthy life. This could be the beginning.
You could go out walking for one day, weekends, some days, or all days from 15th October to 14th November. Just get started.
Why Register?
Of course you don’t need to register to walk with your parents & children. This initiative is just a reminder to spend time with our loved ones. It could possibly be a start of an even better relationship.
We will in any case share a daily plan that you can follow if you so desire.
- There is a lot of concern amongst elderly if they can start now with walking. Dr. Rajat Chauhan, sports-exercise medicine physician will be doing weekly zoom sessions, open only to those who will register, addressing all the concerns. The session is in no way limited to or focused only the elderly. He’ll address health & fitness queries amongst children and adults too.
- You will also get an event e-certificate with group photo with your parents or children you’ll share with us as a memory.
#walkwithyourparents #laultra #laultrafest
Our parents never hesitated to hold our hands and walk with us, then why should we!
Even if you only take out one day a week, lasting 30-60 minutes, is a great start. It could be your forced slow long run. This could give you discipline of not going off too quick. Your parents might not say thanks but they would appreciate having the opportunity of spending time with you. Soon enough even physical benefits would show. The simple rule is to start with small baby steps, gradually increasing time on feet and even slower in increasing speed. If pain seems to appear, back off, slow down. Let them have a few days off but then get back to it again. Pain almost always in such situations means that you or your parents aren’t yet ready for that much.
You could also add basic strengthening exercises like half squats and heel raises in small numbers. Remember that strength training is even more important, more so as we age. Last year I used to do a squats challenge with my then 13 and 17 year old children.
“No matter how rich or powerful you are, nothing is going to get you to spend even one more moment with your parents. Start spending quality time with them, starting today. Tomorrow might just never come.”
Print version in Hindustan Times on 19th October 2019.
