Walking

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Walking ~ in any and all of its forms ~ has many benefits. It gets us where we want to go from more than one perspective...

The most common way to benefit from walking ~ putting it in those words ~ is jogging or running. Wherever you go, you see people running at there own pace; working to stay in shape. Or to get back in shape. Most of them have an energy that seems to be turned inward about them as they are moving by with wires coming from their ears leading to a, usually unseen MP3 device. Running to the beat of the music perhaps. Or at least ‘doing something’ while running...

Research suggests that we don’t have to be jogging or running in order to benefit from walking. Just taking a half an hour every day to go for a walk ~ putting one foot in front of the other ~ can help us maintain a mental balance. As well as the fact that it can help us to stay in shape.

The reasons mentioned for this more mental benefit of walking lies at least partly in the interaction between both hemispheres of our brain. Through walking ~ left foot, right foot, left foot and so on ~ this interaction is activated, and to some extend optimized.
It is one of the reasons why it can be helpful to us to talk out a situation; the things we are thinking about, or the things we want to say while walking ~ as it gives us both the left brain and the right brain views on that particular situation...

This happens equally while walking or running on a treadmill or as you are exercising outside. It is the mechanics of walking that provide us with this benefit.

Walking or running outside does have yet one more advantage to us...
As we are moving through a broader environment, whether it is the city streets or nature, the act of choosing our route, of paying attention to traffic, the people, and things around us broadens our perspectives. It has a tendency to widen our horizons. In a sense, it sets us up to start thinking outside of the box...
And yes, this seems to be more pronounced when you pay attention to where you are at and where you are going with each next step ~ rather than a more inward, ‘listening to music’, or a ‘gotta do something while running’ focus.

What walking in all of its forms has in common is that it moves us forward. It moves us closer to where we want to go. Whether that is the supermarket to pick up a couple of groceries; or the next step on our own, individual, personal paths...
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