This is part of a series on West Chester entrepreneurs. Know someone who’s taking an innovative approach to the mantra, “Follow your dream?” I’d love to share their story. Thank you to Benchmark Federal Credit Union for making this expanded content possible.
“Go outside on the street and look around,” retired teacher Carol Bilek tells me as we sip coffee at Gryphon Cafe, “almost everyone walks incorrectly.”
Several years ago, struggling with health issues, Carol discovered Chi Walking, a walking practice incorporating components of the Chinese martial arts practice of tai chi. “I thought my walking days were over,” she says but the low-impact practice pulls power from the core helping to eliminate strain on her legs and lower body.
“Chi walking teaches you to walk correctly and consciously with efficiency and injury prevention,” she explains. Instead of pushing the body forward with long, powerful strides, Chi Walking requires the body to be aligned and upright and the limbs loose. You move forward from the core. “You feel more like you’re rolling down the street,” Carol says.
She then proceeds to list off a litany of benefits to those who practice these Chi-based methodologies (there is a version for runners, too). They lose less energy, have fewer injuries, and clock more miles. To someone used to a more conventional style of walking, the practice can take deliberate effort at first. This is not uncommon. “It’s a practice,” says Carol. “You have to work at it.” (As if to reinforce her point, she hands me seven pages of hand-written notes on the subject, paper-clipped and folded neatly. It must be the teacher in her.)
Break your stride
Carol’s own practice recently culminated with her certification as a Chi Walking instructor. “I want you to know that today I became a Chi Walking Instructor,” Carol wrote me in early November.
Chi Walking instructor is just the latest in a line of professions, Carol has mastered over her 70-plus years. She started her professional career as a teacher before working in advertising, and consulting, then back to teaching before retiring in 2010. “The common thread through all that was teaching,” she says as she sips her coffee.
And educating is what she hopes to do again. This time, however, it’s with your stride – which should be short. She will be offering one-on-one and small group classes starting in mid-February (you can connect with her through her instructor page). She’s also happy to answer any questions you may have.
“People need to gather information. Learn what they can. Do what you can before you make [a decision to take more restrictive actions],” she says.
It was how she got here in the first place – looking for answers. After being diagnosed with pelvic organ prolapse and told her only options involved surgery, Carol began researching alternatives.
“I wasn’t ready to stop doing things,” she said. Stopping, she is certainly not.
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