Hello and welcome to my blog! Today I wanted to share with you one of my favourite self care practices. I absolutely love to go on a walk in nature. It is something I try to do every week in order to keep up my fitness to help with my fatigue but also to help reset my mind if needed or just a way to be on my own. I love to drop my son off at school and then go for a good walk, by the time I am home I have a lovely clear head, I have a bit of a sweat going on and I'm ready to complete the rest of my day! It is the simplest, easiest form of exercise and best of all, it is free!!
𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝐵𝑒𝓃𝑒𝒻𝒾𝓉𝓈
It is proven that walking is extremely good for your health and wellbeing. It is a more moderate form of exercise than running, HIIT or a high impact cardio class but it still has huge benefits for your health and fitness. The many benefits include but are not restricted to:
Improving your cardiovascular fitness
Maintaining a healthy weight and losing body fat
Building up your stamina and endurance, especially when hills are added to your walking routine
Strengthening your bones and muscles
Improving muscle endurance
Improving your sleep hygiene
Improving your mood, cognition and memory
Strengthening your immune system
Helping maintain fitness while being kind to your joints
Reducing stress and tension
It is recommended that you try to walk for 30 minutes every day in order to reap the maximum benefits, and while having a leisurely saunter with your friends or family has its own benefits for mood and mental health, to increase the physical benefits to your health you should really try to walk quickly and aim to raise your heart rate and get a bit of a sweat on! If you can't manage 30 minutes every day don't worry, any kind of walking can be beneficial. Even 10 minutes of brisk walking every day can count towards your weekly recommended hours of activity.
𝒜𝓌𝑒 𝒲𝒶𝓁𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔
I personally try to have a nice hours walk twice a week on my days off. I use it as a time to listen to my podcasts or some music and try to walk around woods or fields to try to enjoy nature. This week I had an absolutely gorgeous walk, I finished listening to an audiobook and after I had finished instead of putting something else on I decided to do a bit of awe walking.
This type of walking is a way to engage in full immersion along your walk, it is a way to experience everything you see and hear. I tried to do some meditative practices as well, I started to concentrate on the way that my feet felt when they hit the floor, the senses around me. The feelings within my body as I moved. I made a point of trying to find 'awe' in the everyday around me, I noticed the sun shining, the way it felt on my face, the birds singing, the gorgeous autumnal coloured leaves that I was crunching through, the beautiful flowers in someones front garden, the smell of fresh air and smiles as I met dog walkers I came across along the walk. It all made me feel so empowered and recharged. It was something that I had to share as it is such a fabulous way to enjoy your walking time.
I highly recommend bringing a bit of awe walking to your walking routine. It is so easy to do, all it requires is for you to concentrate on things you can see around you. You don't have to visit anywhere special to find awe. You can find awe everywhere, in sounds, colours and little things all around you. Why not try it yourself? Let me know what awe you find on your next walk!