Morning Walk in Greenville, SC, to Prevent Diabetes

I’m committed to good health, so I try to walk for at least 30 minutes every day. My family history of type 1 and type 2 diabetes makes me aware that I am at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes. This information is one of the biggest motivating factors in my life to not take my health for granted.

If you’re like me and worried if you may have pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes, the Centers for Disease Control offers a quick, easy Pre-Diabetes Risk Test.

They also offer a National Diabetes Prevention Program that helps people with prediabetes make lasting lifestyle changes to prevent or delay type 2 diabetes.

Working with a trained coach teaches you to eat healthy, add physical activity, and manage stress. With other participants, you’ll celebrate successes and work to overcome challenges. Find out more on their website.

It’s difficult to maintain good health when I’m out on a music tour. The long hours, lack of sleep, and high-caloric foods hinder my goals. So, my morning walk is one way I maintain a healthy habit until I get home.  

Walking is a great place to start if you’re looking for a way to include more physical activity and exercise into your daily routine.

According to Medical News, brisk walking or striding at above 4 miles or 6.4 km per hour was associated with a reduced risk of around 39%, which is equal to 2.24 fewer cases of type 2 diabetes in every 100 people. Every increase of 1 km of speed was associated with a 9% reduction in risk.

On tour with Itzhak Perlman, my morning walk is always different because I travel to new cities every other day. I can never get bored when I’m stepping out on new terrain or city streets. However, I understand how daily walking around the same neighborhood or office park can be boring. If you’re worried about staying motivated, finding a music playlist, radio show, or podcast series to listen to when you’re walking can help to keep you engaged and make the time go faster. 

My daily walks are a form of meditation, so I try to avoid the phone.  If you’re interested in meditating, check out Divabetic’s annual Guided Meditation podcast with our friend, Yoga Instructor, and Author Rachel Zinman. Her friendly, straightforward approach to mediating has helped me calm my mind during these unprecedented times.

But you may also want to pick up the phone and call friends and family to stop you from feeling your walk is drudgery. 

People always ask me what music I’m listening to. Right now, Itzhak Perlman’s Cinema Serenade album is on repeat. We just performed several pieces from the album with the Charleston Symphony. Here’s one of my favorites – enjoy!

Rory McEwen’s Amazing Botanical Art

Today, I saw an extraordinary exhibit called “Rory McEwen: A New Perspective on Nature” at the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, SC, associated with the Royal Botanic Gardens.

I wanted to share a bit about Rory McEwen with you since I knew nothing about him before heading into the museum. He was a musician who became one of the most influential botanical artists of the 20th century. Sadly, Rory’s life was cut short when he took his own life at the age of 50 after being diagnosed with cancer.

Rory’s work blew me away. His botanical artwork is incredibly detailed and colorful; seeing it in person was a mind-blowing experience. Rory developed a unique painting style on vellum and used large empty backgrounds on which his plant portraits seemed to float.

His work is showcased in this exhibition alongside the works of master botanical artists from the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries.

“I paint flowers as a way of getting as close as possible to what I perceive as the truth, my truth of the time in which I live,” said Rory McEwen.

He is recognized as one of the standard-bearers of today’s renaissance in botanical painting and has had a lasting impact on the world of botanical art.

Here’s a short film about Rory McEwen, spotlighting his musical and artistic talents. Between 1956 and 1965, Rory McEwen was best known as a guitarist and singer, and performed at venues across the country, including the Edinburgh Festival, the Keele Folk Festival and the Festival Hall, where the demand for tickets was so high that extra rows of chairs had to be put on the stage.