Walking as the Antidote
When a mundane activity can be so cathartic.
During a bad or monotonic phase of life, my eyes are often groggy, heavy, and reluctant to see the day in the early mornings. Unbeknown to my personal life, the day is always up on time and forces slivers of sunshine to sneak into my neat and not-so welcoming room. After a good amount of resistance, I’m forced to face the day and “make the most of it”. This is because grumpily chilling and procrastinating under a cosy blanket inside a dimly lit room is never the solution to the uneven and, more importantly, unexpected happenings of life.
Sure, a good night’s sleep offers a temporary solution. It takes me away from the unpleasant vibes and throws me off to a series of senseless stories ingeniously created by the brain. It also calms me down for a while and sometimes, on the good days, makes me wake up without the memories of the previous day. However, this forgetfulness is momentary, and soon the distressing events flood back into the crevices of the mind and the body.
Although soothing and one of my favourite saviours, sleeping certainly doesn’t deal with the enigma that dear life is. It probably prepares me for life to happen in the day forward but never really faces it. It is still a revitalising constant to always resort to. I feel a few such ordinary daily habits support my life and everyone else’s instead of the much-anticipated significant events.
Similar to sleeping, perhaps more effective, and another one of my favourite saviours is walking. Even though it requires more effort than sleeping, it sprinkles my day with many spirited offerings in exchange. Unlike sleep, walking doesn’t entail an unconscious state of mind, but it surely benefits creating my own world for a while. I can choose to either ruminate over debacles which, most of the time, seem petty later or engage in creative ventures wherein I can think of fabricating something new, something fresh.
Walking helps to relax and reclaim the reckless mind in its own way. Be it burdened with unending spiralling thoughts or exhausted after an important submission; a sweet saunter can always help free the mind of both. Walk partners with the music of the phone or the harmony of nature to fashion a soothing environment. I can take time over the relentless thoughts and consider if they’re worthy of action in this environment. Also, I can do nothing with my mind and just relish the natural symphony outside. Thereby relieving the mind of its demons, especially when it’s a stubborn overthinker.
Getting over a personal turmoil or a weary day isn’t the only benefit of walking. For me, there’s also a tinge of creativity and gratitude that it enhances. Creativity because it makes space for calm thoughts that would probably be useful later and gratitude because it makes one appreciate the little things in life. And if I’m out in the open and not bound by some treadmill or man-made tracks, with each advancing step, I can greet the many beauties of nature spectacularly interspersed with buildings and light posts.
Even though it seems solitary and mundane, it certainly is highly cathartic. Over the years, I have realised it is one of my most essential personal customs. There are a variety of things I can do while I’m walking. I can untangle the deeply knotted contemplations, and in the meantime, I can amuse myself with the sight of little brown birds hopping over the array of green grass on the sides of concrete roads. I can enjoy an old piece of music and watch how trees from different roots convene over the road to form a rather convoluted but beautiful and branchy and leafy roof.
I can and cannot be alone whilst walking. After all, it is not an exercise averse to human bonding. Therefore, I can tell and listen to honest and made-up stories and also revere the moon when it is shining at its brightest. I can admire the multitude of canvases the sky gloats about every day, from hues of blues, oranges, yellows, reds, and peaches, to the blanket of dark grey and black, embellished with tiny sparkles. Lastly, not to forget, it is anyway an excellent healthy habit, and all of us owe our bodies a little bit of therapeutic walk!
