The Lost Art of Walking

Here's the rub on walking because it absolutely does not get enough air time for the powerhouse of physical and mental health that it is. If you do one thing for yourself today, GET OUT & WALK!

🚶🏽Just 15 minutes of walking in nature can significantly lower blood pressure, heart rate, stress hormones (cortisol), levels of anxiety, depression and hostility.

🚶🏽‍♂️Leave your phone at home for maximum benefit. When you're outside walking, you go into an unfocused mode called "soft fascination". When you're on your phone (even just listening to music or a podcast), your brain has to be in focused mode. Let your body and your mind wander.

🚶🏽‍♀️The magic number is 20 minutes (3x per week). Based on a study from the University of Michigan, this is the amount of time that most effectively drops your levels of cortisol. Everyone has time for that! That's just one less doom scroll after dinner.

🚶🏽‍➡️If you're struggling with high blood sugars, take a 10-20 minute walk right after a meal. This helps use up that extra glucose humming around in your body.

🚶🏽 Walking is important for supporting your lymphatic system. This is a vital part of your immune system. Lymph is not pumped like blood, but instead only circulates because of muscle movement and pressure changes. So, walk more > get sick less!