10,000 Steps to Happiness & Health
How walking has improved my life.
People say the journey of a lifetime begins with a single step. Let’s take this literally.
A Family On Foot
I grew up with a mom who walked almost everywhere. At times, this was out of necessity- we were poor, and sometimes her car was in disrepair, or perhaps she wanted to save on gas and forgo unnecessary trips in the car. Either way, we walked a lot while my sister and I were growing up.
We walked to and from school, to the store, around town, and for a brief time, on a treadmill that was gifted to us — which was very helpful during the winter.
To this day, she still walks nearly everywhere with a dedication similar to the postal service’s motto:
“Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds…”
Teen Boredom Alleviated
As a teenager growing up in a rural, “podunk” type community before we were blessed by a small fitness center and a big box store to amble around, the list of things to do to healthily and safely occupy ourselves consisted of going to the movies (a single-theatre cinema), the bowling alley, or walking around town at any given hour of the day or evening.
Most of the time, we chose to walk.
It was free, it was fresh air, and for some of my basement-dwelling, video gaming friends, it was their daily dose of sunlight.
For me, it was a chance to have a stimulating, adolescent conversation and act my age during a time in my life where I grew up quickly out of sheer necessity.
Headspace Cleared
Walking clears my head. There’s something about the rhythm of feet moving on the ground that stabilizes my mind and simultaneously gets the gears turning. I realized that not only do I become more relaxed with walking, but I solve problems through movement. To me, it’s its own form of meditation.
This idea of engaging in a monotonous activity to clear your head isn’t a new concept. Washing the dishes has been suggested as a meditative practice for years!
Walking, to me, is similar to this idea. It’s a time for me to be conscious of my breath (especially now that we’re walking masked due to COVID-19), feel my feet on the pavement, and feeling the sun on my skin. My spouse and I also find that we communicate well while we’re both walking, and look forward to our nightly jaunts about the neighborhood to reconnect after a long day.
This leads me to my next point…
Greater Intimacy in Relationships
I spoke about the ways I was able to connect with my friends on a walk, and the same goes for my spouse. Again, it comes back to the repetitive movement. It frees my mind from distraction and I listen more intently. The phones are stored away (because who can walk with a phone in front of their face, anyhow?).
I love our walks. I love the ones I take with friends while we dole out advice to one another, I love the walks I take with my husband as we debrief the day and ponder our future. I love how walking literally and figuratively clears a path — to see things more clearly and venture outside of the box.
Physical Health
Our physical health requires us to move our bodies. As biped mammals, we were made to move, and walking even 5,000 steps per day (1,000 more steps than the encouraged amount for the average American) has been reported to be just the ticket to maintaining good health.
I challenge myself to 10,000 steps, because I find that taking that time for myself is relaxing, beneficial to my own health, and actually helps me be more productive after the walk is over, even if I don’t hit my goal right away.
With quarantine and staying at home more, I’m much more sedentary than I would like to be if I don’t get out for at least one walk during the day. Strapping a mask to my face and heading out to walk not only gets me moving but it reduces a lot of that COVID stress and blues I tend to feel when I’m indoors. As long as we can maintain social distancing, I encourage everyone to get out for a stroll.
Plus, I’m a big fan of The Proclaimers song, “I’m Gonna Be (500 miles).”
Da da da da da!
