When I started walking everyday I had no idea that this daily routine would bring me so much freedom: freedom from pain, freedom from stress and the freedom to explore. How did the simple act of putting one foot in front of another create all this?
I’ve come out for an early morning walk and I’m looking at the Dordogne River in France, rushing along under a perfect blue sky. And I’m mentally giving thanks for my sense of vitality and physical confidence. You see, I didn’t always feel like this. At 58 I’d always regarded myself as a reasonably fit person. But as a desk-bound entrepreneur I was getting daily backache and agonising sciatica every few weeks. And I was worried. If I’m in this much pain when I’m 58, what’s it going to be like when I’m 68 or 78? I had read that walking was good for you and I had started walking a bit… but it was intermittent. Walking just wasn’t at the top of my list. I didn’t really believe that it would do any good. Until I went on a hiking holiday. I walked every single day for five days. That’s all it took five days. That’s when my backache disappeared. I had no sciatica, I had no joint pain, I had no achiness or creaky joints. It felt like I came home with a new body!
And that’s when I decided that I had to prioritise daily walking. Since then, walking moved to the top of my list. I’ve had no sciatica which is a complete miracle. I feel strong and fit. And that is such freedom! Freedom from pain, freedom from achiness. I don’t feel held back by my body anymore. Daily walking has built up my stamina and my cardiovascular fitness and I can walk for hours. My knees aren’t going to give out, my back is pain free and I feel like I can take on the world!
So that’s the first freedom that walking everyday has given me. How about the second freedom: freedom from anxiety. Of course I still have worries. Everyone has worries! That’s just part of being human. But what walking does is give me an opportunity to literally walk my worries away. I’m sure you know that feeling when thoughts are spinning around in your head creating a negative spiral that becomes all-encompassing. That’s when it’s time to go on for a walk. 11 minutes of walking and your nervous system starts to calm down. Walk on a bit more and your relaxed brain starts to wake up to the external environment. You will start to notice things: the colour of the sky, clothes in a shop window, the pattern of a tiled roof. And just like that, walking has allowed you to get out of your head. And the mechanics of walking, stepping your feet and swinging your arms, allows the physical manifestations of anxiety – tight chest, hunched shoulders, tense tummy – to leave your body.
These benefits are magnified if you can walk in nature. Your local park is fine! You can listen to the birds, watch the trees, smell the grass. And when you do this every day, and you watch the changing of the seasons, you realise that there’s a whole other world out there on a whole different scale. That doesn’t take your worries away, but it does provide a fresh perspective.
In my experience the cumulative experience of walking every single day has created an emotional balance and feeling of inner peace that I have never felt before. And I’m loving it!
What about the third freedom: the freedom to explore. For me, this is a huge benefit of walking. I’ve always loved to travel. But what I’m discovering now is how traveling on foot provides an entirely new way to engage with my surroundings. I am seeing, hearing, smelling so many different things when I’m on foot, all because walking is so slow. In one sense, this might be seen as a disadvantage: surely if you’re on foot you can’t see so much, simply because you can’t cover so much ground. But in covering that smaller amount of ground, the intricate detail of what your senses can pick up creates a much deeper sense of connection.
For me, walking is a great way to explore not only new places, but also places that I already know – or thought I knew! I have a project at the moment to walk along every single street in my town. I’ve found shops I never knew existed, wall art hidden away on back streets, lovely front gardens and cute street libraries. These touching expressions of community life are missed when you whizz by in a car.
So there you have it: freedom from pain, freedom from anxiety, and freedom to explore. All achieved by simply going out for a walk every day. Want to see if walking every day could bring you some freedom? It can be hard to start a new habit so why not try walking every day for 5 days and see hwo different you feel ? Here are my tips to make it work for you:
- Schedule your walks in your diary. This is essential. If you leave it to “When I have time” you won’t even get your sneakers on! Have a look at your diary for the next 5 days and mark in time for your walk on each day.
- Aim for 30 minutes a day. If you can only fit in 20 minutes a day, still do it. Especially since if you can only fit in 20 minutes every day, I’m guessing you’ve got a busy, stressed life and you might particularly benefit from the daily walking! So get the diary out, try for 20 minutes, half an hour or an hour, whatever you can. Or it may be that you do 20 minutes for three days. And then on the fourth day, you’ve got time to do half an hour or 40 minutes. Always take account of your fitness level. If 10 minutes walking is your maximum, that’s fine – just do it every day. I built up my strength without even realising it and I know you will too: if you walk everyday.
- Wear comfortable shoes and clothing. Trainers are fine. I generally wear yoga pants because I find them the most comfortable. But if you have to walk in your office clothes, just change your shoes and do it!
- Don’t rush! Go at a pace that feels comfortable for you. This isn’t a race.
- Walk every day for 5 days – but if you miss a day don’t worry. Just get walking again the next day.
If you’re excited about the benefits that daily walking can bring to your life, then download my free guide, Walk Yourself Wonderful and discover:
- the top 10 Health and Wellbeing Benefits of walking
- the 2 biggest blocks that stop us from walking every day
- my top 6 hacks for beating the blocks and staying motivated
Good luck with your daily walking. I know that like me, you’re going to find so much freedom and joy from the simple act of putting one foot in front of the other!
Let me know how it goes. Message me on my socials!