Why Walking is Underrated

Walking, one of life’s simplest pleasures, has somehow become underrated. How do I know this? 

Well, I walk every day for nearly an hour. I start from my house in town and set out in different directions through neighborhoods, parks, and trails. I walk in the morning, afternoon, and evening. I walk during the week and during the weekends. And when I travel somewhere, I walk there, too. 

But sadly, I do not run into many other people walking on my walks, especially when the weather is anything less than perfect.

This observation is not meant to be a guilt trip to those of you who don’t walk. Just a call to reconsider. Walking is one of my absolute favorite things to do, and I want to spread the word about how great it is. 

In the rest of this post, I’ll share a few specific things I enjoy about my daily walk. There’s nothing stopping you from enjoying them, too!

It gets me outside and into the sun. I love the feeling of the warm sun on my skin when I walk on a brisk morning. That narrow band of temperature where you can feel both sensations at once is a simple pleasure I savor. As an added bonus, the sunlight helps me to get my daily dose of vitamin D, and avoid being part of the 40% of Americans who are deficient.

It gives my mind space to wander. There are precious few spaces in this busy, modern world to think without rushing, or to let your mind explore an idea without a particular goal in mind. Walking is one activity where I can always find this. Something about the rhythm and light exertion tunes out the world without requiring my focus. 

I get to really know a place. With the many miles I’ve walked through my town, I feel that I have truly come to know its rhythms. I notice little things like which homeowners keep their yards looking nice, which businesses are busiest, and what my town looks like through the various seasons of the year.

I don’t need any equipment. I love that I can put on a pair of shoes and walk out my front door for a walk on a moment’s notice. The sidewalk in front of my house connects me to any place I’d want to go. There’s no advance planning needed, or equipment to gather, just the simple decision to go for a walk. 

It’s good for me physically. Many people don’t consider walking to be “proper” exercise, but they’re really missing out. The Mayo Clinic website documents a long list of health benefits from taking a brisk daily walk. They include a lower risk of heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, cancer and type 2 diabetes— just to name a few. In the short-term, I can also attest that my daily walks make me feel great and full of energy.

It’s good for my brain. Not only does walking help me to relax and clear my mind, it’s also good for the long-term health of my brain. Research from NeuroImage, a peer-reviewed journal, showed that a 6-month walking intervention improved episodic memory in older adults and increased brain plasticity compared to a control group. 

I can be productive while I walk. When you walk, your hands are usually free, you aren’t out of breath, and your mind isn’t completely occupied by the effort— that opens up all sorts of interesting opportunities to multi-task. Some things I like to do while I walk: think through a problem, outline a blog post, talk to a friend on the phone, pray, and occasionally listen to a podcast or audiobook. 

Or I can be delightfully unproductive. That last point being said, there are many times when I just like to relax my mind, and let it wander wherever it wants to go. Sometimes that means completely zoning out and not thinking about anything at all. I just enjoy the weather, the sounds, and the sights as they happen. This can be a kind of pleasure of its own.

It’s just the right amount of effort. For me, walking really hits the sweet spot when it comes to exertion. If I want, I can go for a leisurely stroll with my nice clothes on and not worry about getting sweaty or disheveled. On the other hand, there are some very hilly routes near my home that I often like to tackle with vigor, and can become quite out of breath. I can easily dial in my walks to just the perfect level of effort on any given day, a quality that makes me much more likely to get out the door.

I see a friendly side of humanity. As I mentioned already, I don’t see a lot of walkers on my walks, but I do see a number of other faces: crossing-guards, construction workers, children playing, people on bikes, people in cars, people on porches, people standing in their yards, etc. And despite all the negative headlines you read about the world, so many of these people greet me with a smile, a wave, or a head nod. It encourages me, and makes me glad for those simple interactions.

It puts me in a good mood. I have never, in all my walking, returned from a walk in a worse mood than when I started. It’d be nearly impossible! It’s not that I come back from my walks skipping with joy— it’s more like a pleasant, relaxed mood comes over me and gently pushes aside my concerns. This has even been my experience when I start my walk as a grump. 

I get to see interesting things. When you spend time walking around, you never know what you’ll get to see. Recently, for example, I watched a box truck drive straight off the road, over an embankment, and into a corn field. Everyone was ok, but it’s a memory I won’t soon forget. I also get to see other, less dramatic events unfold, such as the progress of various construction projects throughout our town.

In summary, walking is a simple, no-cost activity that adds so much value to my life. Based on how great it’s been to me, I think way more people should be walking, or at least giving it a try. You’ve got nothing to lose!