By Debby Germino
This past October, I took the 30 Day Stoic Challenge. Each day, participants were given a new challenge to complete based on Stoic Philosophy. One of the first ones was to take an hour long walk. Simple enough. I took an hour long walk that night after reading about what the Stoics said about it and why they recommend doing it.
That night was the first of 30 consecutive evening walks that I took. Then I continued for the month of November. The evening walk became a source of joy and contemplation for me. It became a wind down at the end of the day to reflect and ground myself. It became something I looked forward to.
This was an odd thing for me as for most of my adult life I have viewed walking as one of the more inefficient means of travel. When it came to exercise I viewed it as a step above useless. If I was going to exercise, I wanted to sweat and be challenged. There were far more forms of movement that gave me more bang for my buck. In fact, I would often find myself running when I had to walk any distance greater than 1/2 mile. I just couldn’t help but think how much faster I would get there if I was running.
In fact, on my first meditation retreat, I found myself sneaking away on the walking meditation and running for the allotted time.
So it was a big surprise to me this past October when I took up this new walking habit with such affinity. What was happening to me? Was I losing my fire? Did this mean I was getting old and slowing down?
Maybe, but to be clear, this was not replacing my challenging, heart-pumping workouts.
My evening walk became something else entirely…a meditative practice while moving my body. A bonus of sorts. It was a time for contemplation. I finally began to understand the purpose of walking meditation and that it was okay to slow down. Slowing down actually can be helpful in paying attention which is, after all, the point of meditation.
While I embraced my new habit, I became curious about why so many philosophers, thinkers, and contemplatives have found this such a useful habit to keep.
The Stoics
The Stoics are concerned with developing their inner life. They place a high value on the mind and most of their practices are dedicated to training the mind in order to live a better life. Walking was a form of mind training that allowed them to connect their unconscious thoughts.
Seneca said,
“We should take wandering outdoor walks, so that the mind might be nourished and refreshed by the open air and deep breathing.”
Writer Ryan Holiday, a modern-day Stoic, and creator of the 30 Day Stoic Challenge, (which has now been reduced to 14 days) credits walking with stimulating his mind. He likes to walk while listening to music and recommends a daily walk as part of positive habit development and a way to enjoy the scenery while being away from your work.
The Buddhists
Buddhism also recommends walking as a practice towards happier, healthier, and higher-minded living. The Buddha found great joy and happiness in walking meditation. He invited others to practice for themselves and see if it was true for them as well.
Zen Master, Thich Nat Hahn, writes in Lion’s Roar about the practice of walking. He writes that it is a way to unite the body and the mind but also to unite us with the Earth. Practicing mindful walking can help connect us to the Earth on a deeper level.
“When we look into our own bodily formation, we are made of the same elements as the planet. It has made us. The earth and the universe are inside of us.
When we take mindful steps on the earth, our body and mind unite, and we unite with the earth. The earth gave birth to us and the earth will receive us again.”
Walking is one of the four meditation postures in Buddhism. The benefits of it can be greater concentration, relaxation, and increased strength and stamina. It is often used in the traditional format of a Buddhist silent meditation retreat where there are alternating periods of sitting and walking meditation.
Buddhists recognize the deep connection between body and mind. Movement of the body can help to relax the mind. And synchronizing the breath with each step can be a calming exercise while also increasing concentration and focus.
Thich Nhat Hanh speaks about the joy that can be achieved with dedicated practice.
“Each step you make must make you happy, peaceful and serene. And each step brings you back to the present moment, which is the only moment in which you can be alive.”
Great Writers and Thinkers
Walking has also played a big role in some of the greatest minds of humanity. Frederick Nietzsche said,
“It is only ideas gained from walking that have any worth.”
Albert Einstein would certainly agree. He was known to walk the mile and a half from his home to Princeton where he taught classes. He also followed in Aristotle’s footsteps and would often conduct lectures while walking the grounds of the campus. Charles Darwin was another genius who was said to have taken three 45 minute walks each day.
Charles Dickens was an avid walker, so much so that his friends worried it bordered on pathology. According to Mark's Daily Apple, Dickens would write each day from 9 am — 2 pm and then walk for the rest of the day. These were no short strolls either. He was said to walk up to 20–30 miles at a time.
Writers and thinkers alike, have always known the benefits that walking provided their creativity and problem-solving skills.
Henry David Thoreau wrote in his journal, about walking,
“Methinks that the moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow.”
The Science
Sophilosophers, meditators, contemplatives, and geniuses all agree. Walking has plenty of benefits. But is this all just anecdotal evidence? Is there any scientific basis for these claims? Turns out the science is quite compelling.
The New Yorker’s article titled Why Walking Helps us Think explains why walking and thinking are such great companions.
“Many experiments have shown that after or during exercise, even very mild exertion, people perform better on tests of memory and attention. Walking on a regular basis also promotes new connections between brain cells, staves off the usual withering of brain tissue that comes with age, increases the volume of the hippocampus (a brain region crucial for memory), and elevates levels of molecules that both stimulate the growth of new neurons and transmit messagesbetween them.”
A study done at Stanford showed that walking made participants more creative than their sedentary counterparts. They found that creative output increased 60 percent when a person was walking.
Participants derived the most benefits in creative brainstorming but when it came to focused tasks, walking did not produce the same benefits. It actually decreased their performance on these tasks. The study ’s researchers Marily Oppezzo and Daniel Schwartz say that walking benefits the divergent element of creative thinking. Oppezzo is quoted in this article:
“We’re not saying walking can turn you into Michelangelo. But it could help you at the beginning stages of creativity.”
Another study done in a university hospital setting found Buddhist walking meditation to relieve symptoms of depression in elderly participants. The participants were 60–90 years old with mild to moderate depression. There was a group put on a traditional walking program and a group put on a Buddhist based walking meditation program and a third group that was sedentary. Interestingly, the depression scores went down only in the group that did the Buddhist based walking meditation program. Both walking groups improved vascular reactivity and functional fitness. But the study concluded there were greater overall benefits in the Buddhist walking meditation than the traditional walking program.
Other studies have shown that where you walk can be an important factor in the benefits derived from it. The New Yorker article, reports,
“A small but growing collection of studies suggests that spending time in green spaces — gardens, parks, forests — can rejuvenate the mental resources that man-made environments deplete.”
Part of what allows the brain to make new connections during walking is the change of stimulation and focus required. Walking temporarily reduces the activity in the front part of the brain which is responsible for higher-order thinking such as memory, judgment, and language.
But cities with crowded intersections, digital billboards, and traffic constantly demanding our attention can overstimulate those very regions of the brain that walking is meant to dampen. For this reason, researchers are finding that green environments are a better option for obtaining the relaxing and revitalizing effects of walking. One interesting study found a 50% increase in problem-solving task performance after four days of nature walking. This study also involved decreased exposure to technology so direct causation cannot be certain. But correlation is evident and further studies have confirmed other benefits of walking in nature.
Research by the Economic and Social Resource Council found that walking in green environments at lunchtime led to a better night sleep and after 8 weeks led to decreases in blood pressure and perceived stress.
Science is even showing that walking may have greater health benefits than running. The Guardian reports on a study that compared data from walkers and runners aged 18–80 over a period of 6 years:
“Running reduced the risk of heart disease by 4.5% while walking reduced it by 9.3%.
Calorie for calorie, walking also had a stronger impact on heart disease risk factors. The risk of first-time high blood pressure was reduced by 4.2% by running and 7.2% by walking.
First-time high cholesterol risk was lowered by 4.3% by running and 7% by walking.”
While I’m not ready to give up my running habit, I am opening my mind to seeing walking in a whole new light.
How to Achieve The Benefits of Walking
Walking is something most of us (with the ability to do it), do every day without much thought. It is our default mode of transportation. But with just a little more intention and effort we can transform this seemingly mundane activity into a tool for enhancing our minds and optimizing our health and well being.
Walking Work Breaks
In my experience, taking a 10-minute walking break every 55 minutes while working, improves my productivity and helps keep the creative juices flowing longer than if I were sedentary.
I definitely experience a creative boost from getting outside of my office and into some fresh air.
And for those of you who think you are too busy to get outside for 10 minutes every hour, you need it the most.
I have days where I feel too overwhelmed and think I can’t possibly break away from my desk. Those are the days when I have to force myself to stop. Even if it’s just 3 minutes of walking inside or outside, I always feel more relaxed and refreshed when I return to work. On those super busy days, often my walks turn into runs as my mind is racing so much that running is the only way to let go of the excess energy. Having a relaxed mind is far more creative and productive than an anxious, overwhelmed mind.
The consistent movement breaks help keep the flow of creativity going. As counterintuitive as that sounds, sticking to a specified time to break is more productive than just going straight through until the juices stop flowing. I used to worry that if I stopped while in the flow of something creative, I wouldn’t get it back. But I have found just the opposite to be true. I often come back with fresh ideas and am able to pick up where I left off.
The Evening Walk
The evening walking habit that I picked up in October has had a positive impact on my day. I look forward to the quiet time alone after dinner. I use it as a moving meditation and leave music and audio behind. I have no expectations or agenda for the walk. I am not doing it for exercise or to burn extra calories. I’m just being present with my mind and my body and experiencing the environment as it presents itself. I allow my thoughts to come and go while my pace fluctuates with the rhythm of my thoughts. The dark of the nighttime lends itself to going within more than the daylight.
But the time of day is not as important as the act itself. If your schedule allows for a morning walk, do that. If lunchtime works better, walk at lunch. The benefits come when you move your body and allow the blood to flow. Let go of to-do lists and allow your body to move at whatever pace comes that day. Some days you will walk briskly or maybe even run. Other days, you’ll saunter at a leisurely stroll and feel each step as your foot meets the ground.
Pace doesn’t matter. Consistency does.
Make it a habit.
Make it daily.
Even if it’s just 10 minutes of intentional walking, it will enhance your day and sharpen your mind.
I was a skeptic who is now a believer.
But don’t take my word for it. Try it out for yourself and see where it leads you.
“In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks.” — John Muir