Benefits of Walking

We all walk every day, even if it’s just short distances around our office and our house. Some folks add a planned walk to their routine, one designed to burn extra calories and aid in weight loss while giving their hearts and other muscles a workout. The health benefits of walking for exercise are well established and include strengthening your core, improving blood pressure, building muscle and bone density and lowering the risk of heart disease, diabetes and other diseases.

But a daily walk will improve a whole lot more than your fitness level; the benefits go beyond what the activity offers your physical body. Walking is good for the mind too. It can lift your spirits and boost your productivity Here are just a few of things walking provides:

• Increased Energy: The idea that expending energy results in more energy may seem counter-intuitive, but research proves that people who take regular walks, even short walks, have more energy and are more productive than people who stay sedentary.
• Time & Space to Think: The connection between walking and concentrated, creative thinking has been a hot topic in the last decade. Lauded writers like Henry David Thoreau and Virginia Woolf were avid walkers, noting in their letters and journals the many ideas and concepts that came to them on their treks.
• Higher Self-Esteem: Any accomplished task, even a short walk, makes us feel good about ourselves. Since taking a walk is something almost anyone can get done, a daily stroll is an easy self-improvement goal to set and meet.
• Better Brain Function & Memory: Walking can help protect the brain from the natural cognitive decline that comes with aging. It can even lead to the creation of new brain cells.
• Community Engagement: If you’re walking outside in your neighborhood, you’re experiencing more of your immediate environment and reap the soothing effects of being exposed to plants, trees and wildlife. But you also gain the opportunity to interact with neighbors and others you pass on your way. Sharing a bit of conversation or just a smile and a wave is always good for the soul.
• Stress, Anxiety & Depression Relief: All forms of physical activity increase the release of norepinephrine, a brain chemical that can help us fight stress, as well as endorphins, “feel-good” chemicals, and walking is no different. Walking’s rhythmic pace can also help calm a troubled or restless mind.
• Improved Sleep: Many walkers notice the relaxation effects of their walk, effects that help them ease into sleep at night.