E6: My Dream to Power Walk Like Mandy Patinkin

Recorded June 23, 2024: Gait is complicated, and giving in to using a mobility aid is even more complicated. But wishing I could power walk like Mandy Patinkin is simple.  The man can move. 

Resources Mentioned: 
Alinker
Rollz Walkers
By Acer
NeoWalk
CitizenCanes

Connect with me at: LindaBP.com or on IG @LindaBP68

Transcript

E6 (00:01.902)
So I start onboarding with my Cionic neural sleeve this week. I'm excited, nervous, and equally nonplussed because, well, honestly, I explained it all last week. Listen to the pod entitled, Conflicting Emotions and the Cost of Failure. Seriously, it's only 16 minutes. You'll be caught up. But last week, I mentioned that I simply wanted to, with a cane in hand, walk without thinking about walking or looking down at the ground. And I still stand by that. But goals should be on a spectrum. It's the speech therapist in me. If you want insurance to pay for the therapy you're receiving, it's important to have reachable short -term goals to show progress and a few big picture long -term goals to validate continuing with the therapy. 

E6 (01:19.438)
I have many short -term goals involving dorsi, knee and hip flexion, hamstring activation, increased internal rotation of my leg, decreased pronation of my foot, and that goddamn inch I want to clear during the swing phase of my gait. Those haven't changed. But I do have one crazy, it probably will never happen, but it's good to hope, long -term walking goal. 

E6 (01:48.238)
That might surprise you, but first let's walk down memory lane, shall we? It's my freshman year of college at the University of Pittsburgh, September of 86. The air is crisp, the aroma of autumn, it's starting now that the leaves have begun to fall. I mean, gosh, you can feel the excitement, a new freshman class at a new school starting their next phase of life. 

E6 (02:16.43)
It was that time when honestly anything was possible. And the Bangles have just released their soon to be number one single, Walk Like an Egyptian. And that song was everywhere. I'm sure it was blasting from my Walkman and my boombox. I mean, it was 1986 people. 

E6 (02:44.174)
There's a good chance the sweatshirt I wore had a large cutout neck hole which not only hung off my shoulder but also allowed me to get dressed without messing up my permed mullet or smudging my blue eyeliner. I loved the Bangles, loved the song, and you would think 38 years later I would be playing that non -stop to inspire me. But for reasons I can't really explain, ever since my walking went sideways, there's been one famous person who has motivated my personal movement goals. Whether he's playing FBI Special Agent Jason Gideon or CIA officer Saul Berenson, I would love more than anything to walk like Mandy Patinkin. That man power walks like a powerhouse. 

Now to be fair, I have no idea if Mr. Patinkin has the actual gait pattern that I have fallen in love with. Maybe it's a specific, I don't know, character choice he makes when playing government employees who keep us safe. I follow Mandy and his lovely wife, Kathryn, on Instagram. And you should too, by the way, because they're fabulous. I've seen him mosey, strut, parade, basically walk like most people walk. But when I watch an old episode of Criminal Minds or Homeland, he moves with intention and purpose. 

He has, I don't know, confidence. That's why his walk really does it for me. Because I only feel confident when I'm seated, never when standing or strolling. So I started snooping around the internet and I found a subreddit about his walk. It was literally entitled, "Can someone explain why Saul Berenson, (his Homeland character), walks like a robot?" And of course, the best answer was, "Because you killed his father and should prepare to die." A nice nod to Inigo Montoya, his Princess Bride character. But if you read further down, another person noted, well, he walked like that on Chicago Hope 25 years ago. Someone else mentioned that the actor's kids have publicly teased him about his walk. So I am fully comfortable keeping him, not his characters, as the physical manifestation of my walking inspiration. And personally, I just think that visualizing the way he moves would be helpful because gait is really complicated. 

E6 (05:39.086)
Walking involves two main phases, the stance and swing phase, and those are divided into eight sub phases. About 200 different muscles are used when you walk, not to mention the different joints, tendons, and ligaments that are all utilized. 

E6 (05:59.63)
The main systems involved are the musculoskeletal and nervous systems. But you pull from a bunch of other systems when you walk. The circulatory system, because it's hard to walk if blood doesn't flow down to your feet. The respiratory system, again, hard to walk if your breathing is shallow. And every step means balancing on one foot which requires the use of your vestibular system. Your torso and pelvis, they counter -rotate. So think of it like when you wring out a washcloth, twisting the top one direction and the bottom in the opposite direction. So if you think about it, your entire body is involved, whether you are trying to get your 10 ,000 steps in or stumbling to the bathroom at 2 am. 

E6 (06:53.838)
A breakdown in one area will obviously affect a bunch of other areas. And that's why walking is such great exercise. It utilizes your entire body. It's free. You can amplify it, you know, power walk, patinkin style while swinging hand weights, or you can modify it. Walk for five minutes using a wheeled walker up and down the hallways of your apartment building. It's also why I get really judgy when people who can take a walk don't. I would do anything to stroll around my beautiful town. And I haven't done it in so many years. In fact, I was looking back, I think I stopped walking on a regular basis in 2015. I got some of my gait back in 2017. So I had a year and then it stopped again. So seven years since I just went out and took a stroll. 

E6 (07:53.518)
I am also equally judgy when people with gait issues don't use the mobility aids that are available to them. I'm talking about canes, hiking poles, and walkers. They make all sorts of mobility aids to help people walk better, and many innovative European companies are going out of their way to improve the design. A Dutch designer invented the Alinker, which is a walking bike. that helps users walk extremely fast while allowing them to sit and rest as needed. The Rollz Company out of the Netherlands, it makes multipurpose mobility aids. They have a walker that transitions to a wheelchair for ambulatory wheelchair users who want choices. Their Rolls Motion Rhythm walker, it gives visual, auditory, and vibration cues so anyone with balance issues or people who freeze or suddenly accelerate when walking can use this very specific walker to help them with the movement and motion of walking. By Acer is a Scandinavian company. So of course, their walker is light and functional with a very sleek design. I mean, you just look at it and you can literally picture yourself using it while you walk around and shop at IKEA. 

E6 (09:18.926)
And the cane industry has exploded also. The one I bought at Walgreens 12 years ago doesn't hold a candle to the Lucite one I found on Etsy or the higher end sticks I've gotten from Neowalk, which is a company out of England. I also have Canadian-made urban poles and a bunch of different hiking sticks, which can all be interchanged based on what I'm doing. Now I haven't mentioned wheelchairs and that's honestly an entirely different category with its own pros and cons that I'll save for another time. For now, I just want to talk about walkers and canes. And no matter how many new and cool products are out there, you must first battle your ego. And it's been a huge issue for me because honestly, you start using a cane and it kind of makes you feel like you're giving up. 

E6 (10:14.478)
Progressive diseases and aging involve a constant give and take between safety and pride, between being efficient instead of merely effective, between extending your independence and risking a catastrophe. Plus, frankly, it's embarrassing, especially if your diagnosis has been somewhat hidden. A walker or a cane will just shout it out from the rooftops. 

E6 (10:42.446)
"Hey, I'm disabled, able, able, able".  

E6 (10:52.846)
Now, your vanity and self-esteem are completely your business. I'm not going to tell you how to feel. You'll make the modifications you need when you're ready. And we all have hangups. I have many of them. I know people who won't wear cheaters to read. The same goes for hearing aids or how many people it takes forever to give up a really extreme or dangerous hobby. But here's what I've learned over the years. 

E6 (11:21.294)
You'll be judged less for walking well with a mobility device than for walking weirdly without one. The earlier you use an aid, the more function and energy you'll save, which might make your aided gait appear much more quote-unquote normal. You know, I remember a lab tech at an old job. She walked Mandy Patinkin style with a cane. Actually, she might have walked faster than him. I never saw her as feeble or old. In my head, I just thought, damn, that woman can move. She didn't concern me as much as she just simply impressed me. Mobility aides tell the world you have either an injury or a diagnosis. They'll notice it, but if you're moving well, honestly, they won't give a damn. But a quirky walk without a cane? 

E6 (12:19.726)
Well, it kind of depends. If you just have a slight limp, people will just assume you're injured. But if your movement is really getting funky and messed up and there's no mobility aid to be seen, a lot of people will assume that you're either drunk, high, or mentally unstable in some way. The more you try to hide it, the less multitasking you can do. Suddenly walking with a friend is impossible because they want to talk, but you can't because you're using all of your faculties to stay upright. Years ago, I would literally tell my friends that we could either walk in silence or sit and catch up because I couldn't possibly do both. 

And another thing I've learned was that canes make you like Moses. You can part a sea of people with just one stick. Even toddlers somehow understand that a cane means "Give that lady some room". 

Unfortunately, another thing I figured out, not all dogs like canes. So of course, abused dogs see them as threats, but non -abused dogs might react to your unconventional gait pattern or body language in a strange way. They might sense your anxiousness about your own walking, and then that will make them nervous. 
Or the fact that something with three legs is approaching their master might freak them out a little bit. So regardless, be careful when around a new dog. Let them smell the cane before you enter their home any further. Give them a treat or gradually introduce it to your own pet and increase their exposure slowly over time. 

E6 (14:05.486)
I taught yoga for about, I don't know, five, six, maybe seven years before I had to start using a cane to get in and out of the studio. I remember a student came up to me and she said, "Why are you using that"? And her tone, it really startled me. I kind of stumbled. I was like, "I have MS". And she said again in a very strident voice, "I didn't know that". 

E6 (14:32.75)
And honestly, at the time I was so taken aback, I was really annoyed, really kind of pissed me off. But you know, all these years later, when I think back on that conversation, I recognize it now as a fear-based reaction. When you have a disease that a lot of people fear, you're their walking worst-case scenario. When they can see it in your body or through a piece of medical equipment, 

E6 (15:01.39)
They might feel bad for you, but they also might simply wonder, well, shit, if it happened to her, is it going to happen to me? You know, it's not always about you. Sometimes it's about them and you're triggering something in them. Maybe they have a relative with a disease like that. Maybe they have other friends. Maybe  that's the one thing they're always scared about getting. So don't always take it personally. Sometimes it really has nothing to do with you. 

I read recently that people don't fear aging or even death. They fear the decline. So you can view a mobility aid as evidence that you're deteriorating or proof that you're working smart, not hard. 

E6 (15:58.254)
And instead of spending your mental energy on moving, you can then focus on the 10,000 other things you have to do in a day. Plus, it might give you a little extra space to keep dreaming about and working towards that one big pie in the sky dream you're not ready to let go of.