5 Great Reasons To Get Out For A Walk Today

Walking – empower and energise your mind: 5 reasons why you will want to go outside today

The thought of exercising is really appealing. Going for a leisurely stroll is so freeing. But they are just thoughts, and they will stay as thoughts unless they are met with action.What is it that makes those thoughts so appealing? Is it the solitude? Is it the idea that we are investing in ourselves? I believe both of those make getting outside appealing. Though why would they be enticing?

Before we go further, we need to identify what is holding us back in the first place. A common barrier is time. We need to have the space in our day to do this. This is particularly hard for parents (especially single-parents) juggling children, those in demanding jobs/shift-work, and so on. Energy is needed to make it out the door even if we did have the time. Mood, sometimes we just don’t feel in the mood – and that’s ok! Though it is a barrier.

Here are 5 reasons why you would want to get out for a walk:

1. Free – walking is free exercise.

No memberships required, no closing times, no special equipment required. Incredibly cost-effective, so no financial guilt could rationally be experienced by going for a walk and best of all – it can be a fun family event! 15 minute walk to the park and 15 minutes back easily achieves that goal.

2. Health – cancer, heart and diabetes risks are significantly reduced.

By getting the heart to move and pump it allows more oxygen to get through your blood and improve your circulation[1].

3. Mood – your mood will improve.

Not only are you reminding yourself that you are important and you are investing in yourself, you will also increase your vitamin D levels which have a significant impact on depression and anxiety. Walking for 30 minutes also gives you clean space to process through any difficult times and thoughts that might be weighing you down or holding you back from living the best you can[2].

4. Energy – walking 30 minutes a day gives you more energy.

Studies have found that walking gives you more lasting energy than afternoon naps or ‘energy’ bars can give you. Continued routine walking will give you a lasting effect which will continue to flow throughout your day – this will also become a healthy cycle of giving you more energy to push yourself out of the door each day.

5. We gain more time – by investing in a 30 minute walk a day, we increase our productivity so we can get more done in less time.

Considering the above points, it makes sense. We can accomplish more when we have more energy, improved mood, great health (less sick days) all without blowing your budget.

Already, we have seen that the three most common barriers can be turned around into three motivators for getting outside each day with extra benefits on top.

So can you really afford not to walk each day?

Written by  Jess Mannion

Jessica Mannion
Assistant Director – Diploma DEP Grad. Cert. In Family Therapy (2014) Grad. Dip. In Family Therapy (in progress) Cert IV TAE

Become a qualified counsellor: http://aifc.azurewebsites.net/

Sources:

[1] http://patient.info/health/physical-activity-for-health

[2] http://www.helpguide.org/articles/exercise-fitness/emotional-benefits-of-exercise.htm

[3] http://www.webmd.com/diet/20061103/exercise-fights-fatigue-boosts-energy