For a lot of us, it used to be that we spent very little time at home, amidst our busy lives dashing here and there. Commuting, working, socialising, exercising, running errands. Now we find ourselves here almost permanently, with just a few genuine reasons to walk out the front door and leave the house. One of these, is for a daily patch of exercise.
Alongside the current UK governmental guidance on social distancing, is the advice to stay mentally and physically active during this time. It’s recommended we try and exercise at home, or if suitable for our circumstances, we can also go for a walk or exercise locally outdoors if we stay more than 2 metres from others.
Rather than a feeling that we’re “just” walking, I was curious to uncover the surprising, hidden benefits to a humble neighbourhood stroll…
According to Shane O’Mara, who wrote In Praise of Walking, our uniquely human ability to walk is a “marvellous and seemingly simple feat”. He goes on to say that “walking is hugely beneficial for our minds, our bodies and our communities. Walking is holistic: every aspect of it aids every aspect of one’s being… the emerging science is giving us a clear picture, regular walking confers enduring and substantial benefits on individuals, and on society at large”.
Personal and business integrative therapist, Carmen Rendell is so passionate about the power of walking that she is known as The Soulwalker. Until Covid-19 put a halt on her plans, Carmen was in the midst of her series of SoulWalks around the British Isles. Clients can also work with Carmen through walking therapy session.
When asked why she advocates walking, Carmen echoes O’Mara’s appreciation for the holistic benefits: “Walking supports us both mentally and physically. It gives us time to be slow and considerate. Other exercise often distracts us with its pain or intensity. With walking we still get the health benefits and we also get time for our neurological systems to quieten down. It creates spaces for unconscious exploration. Repairs our brains and lowers our blood pressure, reduces inflammation and aids digestion. It reduces depressive disorder, anxiety and stress through the release of endorphins and improves creativity and problem solving.”
This ability to slow ourselves down is also highlighted by counsellor and life coach Shona Macpherson: “I move at a pace that feels different to the speed with which much of the world is turning. Being out in nature helps us to down regulate our nervous system. Most of us are over-stimulated by our phones, email, workloads, tech, artificial light. Spending time outdoors gives us fresh air, vitamin D, boosts our emotional health, slows us down and allows us to be more present.”
Even reading these sentences, I feel a sense of calm wash over me and a desire to put down my phone and lace up my shoes.
Personal trainer Sandy Rowe invokes the simplicity of walking as one of its great benefits: “It’s a manageable fitness for the majority of my clients. I recommend they get in at least 30 minutes of walking a day to keep the joints healthy.”
She too applauds the other benefits of walking also: “It’s a physical activity that can become a mental activity. Breathing is essential for living. Breathing is involuntary. It’s controlled by your brain. It’s automatic. Walking is a physical action, requiring you to breathe. By walking you are invigorating the autonomic nervous system, connecting your mental wellbeing with your physical health.”
Given the importance placed on walking by all three, it’s no surprise they each cite the pull of a daily practice in these chaotic times.
“I’ve been walking in my beloved local Richmond Park, or along the Thames Path and it reminds me how important it is to do this every day,” says Carmen. “To shift the energy. To slow the brain down. To distract from the everyday tasks. I always feel calm walking. I’ve been really listening to the birds and the animals and the trees in the park.”
In her work with Trek Scotland, Shona runs Women’s Wellbeing treks in the Cairngorm mountains, facilitating ways for women to connect their inner landscapes with the outer. As opposed to the longer mountains walks she adores, Shona is keeping it closer to home in the current climate: “My walking is currently very local. But I make sure to walk, run or cycle outdoors in nature every day. The outdoors have become even more important to me in this time. It amazes me that despite all the bad news and fear, spring is springing, bird song is louder with less noise pollution and wild life is thriving.”
Being on the go, all day, everyday comes with the territory for a personal trainer. With many of her Aspyr Fitness clients now having virtual 1:1s via video calls or taking part in online streamed classes, the 20-30km distances Sandy used to cover through running or walking have been somewhat curtailed as of late.
“I have limited this to completing 10km a day now. I get my walking or running in early in the morning or late at night. I am very socially conscious. If I am outside, someone else may not feel they can go outside at that time. It feels even more precious than it was before.”
It should come as no surprise, that no one leapt to describe an inner-city terrain, pounding footpaths, surrounded by buildings and roadways, as their ideal walk of choice. Rather beautiful, nature-rich landscapes amidst mountains, forests and the coasts came up repeatedly.
However, needs must and it seems there is still much to be gleaned from a walk in your local neighbourhood. Believe me, I specifically challenged them whether we can get the same impact from walking around the block several times, or even a few laps of a deserted carpark.
Carmen is quick to point out that: “Nature is everywhere and if you don’t have a big park, river or hills near you, then you will have trees or grass, birds and foxes even. Just take the time to connect with them. Watch what they’re doing. Look at the beauty. And if not, then it’s a wonderful opportunity to use your imagination. Visualise something different and just follow your breath as you take each step.”
Sandy too encourages a sense of creativity: “The mind is amazing at creating our own landscapes. Working on your own imagery while you walk is a skill. You can build out the scenery each time you walk, creating your own story.”
Shona references poet and philosopher John Donoghue who “talks about the most important thing being our attitude and attention when we are walking and connecting with a land or city scape.”
If you’re still unsure, it may be you need to see walking in a new light. Getting started or over ourselves can be the first hurdle.
Carmen’s advice? “I’d suggest walking consciously. Breathe deeply. Take your time. Walk different paces. A little quicker just to raise the heart rate and often so slow it’s uncomfortable, just to see what emotions arise. It’s when we stop still that emotions rise up. Hence lots of fear and anxiety seeping into the system over these few weeks and months”.
Give yourself license to experiment says Shona: “Create your own rituals and habits while you walk. Play. Pay attention. Let your mind wander, free flow. Try and let go of the need to be doing anything ‘right’ or following some protocol. Nature is there just being. Nature doesn’t judge you – it’s indifferent to you. You get to observe and walk amongst it. One foot in front of the other.”
Or perhaps: “Pick a focus for your walk,” suggests Sandy. “This can be a desire. A need to get outside. A need to be seen. Or maybe it’s to fill a learning gap. Or relaxing your mind. Listening to music or a podcast can sometimes transform you from your current situation into a completely different environment.”
What about for those of us, where walking feels boring, or we find ourselves resisting the slower pace? My husband fondly refers to my fast-paced walk as me “getting a wriggle on”.
“I used to think walking was boring,” says Carmen. “But boring actually just means you think you’re boring and we forget that we can stimulate our own senses and imagination. It could be you find a hypothesis to solve or question to answer. Then as you walk you allow that question to fester and see what you see. See what answers seem to be in nature. What is nature telling you?”
Shona invites us to “walk with the intention of meeting beauty”. To do so, she recommends “Leave your house with the intention of going beyond yourselves. And then see what you notice and feel. Let nature be your guide. It might just be a moment of connecting with the sky and noticing the cloud formations. Maybe the way the breeze feels on your skin. The melodic or irritating bird song.”
While hiking the Pacific Crest Trail in 2019, Shona shared daily journal posts on Instagram as a way of documenting the experience. She invites us to do the same, as a way to deepen the practice of our daily walk: “Take a few moments and sit and journal during or after your walk, naming what you noticed and experienced. You could also journal about how these might relate to your life”.
Equally, if appropriate for your current condition, a bit of pace may be suitable says Sandy: “If you are looking for fitness, then of course, a fast pace is great. It will increase your heart rate. An increased speed will ask more of your heart muscle. Adaptation will occur, which will increase the size of your muscle. Increasing the elasticity of your arteries. Getting the blood pumping reduces cholesterol and improves your heart health, his is great for your physical body.
In Paris, current restrictions mean residents are required to exercise before 10am or after 7pm in the evening. You may also find that during the middle of the day, the roads and footpaths can be more populated and as a result, be more of a challenge to maintain adequate social distancing.
When walking outside daylight hours, all three reiterate that safety is paramount and you should never force yourself to do something that is unsafe:
Know the area, walk where you know it’s safe
Walk in well lit places, take a torch if required and watch out for potholes or tree roots
Either go with someone from your household, or make sure someone knows where you’re going
Don’t wear headphones on your own
Rather than feeling curtailed, or hemmed in, I loved hearing Carmen, Sandy and Shona all extolling the joys of early morning and evening walking within their own practices:
“I find these times are the best. Either get up early to see the sun rise which is an amazing way to start the day, sunset too. Or if you’re in the dark you get to hear everything and see the stars. It’s quite magical.” (Carmen)
“It is very quiet at that time, normally. If you are not keen on an evening walk, get up and out early. 6-7am is currently the best time, where it’s light and there are only a few people out and about.” (Sandy)
“I love nighttime walking, on the Pacific Crest Trail I often walked into the night in the darkness. I used a head torch but would sometimes turn it off if the moon was full or bright enough. I become so much more aware of my other senses. And aware that another world comes alive in nature.” (Shona)
Whether you are unable to leave the house through self-isolation or shielding, or you’re situated somewhere with a more severe lockdown in place, I asked all three how they’d advise tapping into the benefits of a daily walk, without the ability to do physically do so right now.
Carmen recommends seeking out similar benefits in alternate ways: “Walking is often about removing ourselves from our current thinking, into the unconscious. Meditations, even audio books can also do that. Given that it slows down our breathing, try some new breathing techniques. Wim Hoff did a great showcase with Russell Brand this week. It’s a simple technique to get oxygen to parts of the body you don’t normally reach Pete Warnock (one of the Soulhub team) also has some wonderful breath work and meditation online workshops.
“And finally visualize. Paint or draw where you’d love to walk if you could. Dr Joe Dispensa talks about the power of creating the future before you get there.”
For the more competitive or goal-focussed, Sandy suggests a novel approach: “Why not set yourself a challenge. One of my friends was supposed to be completing the Camino Trail. She is now climbing the elevation and walking the kilometres of her route. Get creative. Think about an achievable goal and see how far you can get towards achieving it. What have you always wanted to do and always felt you never had the time to complete? Cycle a route along the Tour de France? Hell, why not cycle the whole of the Tour de France? Climb Everest or Kilimanjaro using your stairs? Learn how to complete a press up or pull up? Master inversions? Set yourself a goal, do the humble work, achieve greatness at home.”
Thank you to Carmen, Sandy and Shona for sharing their love of walking with me. This was such a enjoyable article to compile, as you could feel the passion for walking coming through in every response. I know I look forward to tomorrow’s daily stroll with a renewed sense of enthusiasm and curiosity to explore…
