Keep walking

Me thinks that the moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow. – Henry David Thoreau

I love walking.

Growing up in Hong Kong, a metropolitan city, we are accustomed to walking everywhere. You are surrounded by all kinds of sights and sounds while you walk around in the city. There is never a dull moment. Walking was such an essential part of my life back then; it was a way to get around a busy city. I did not associate walking as part of my exercise routine. It was just something I did everyday.

Since I moved to the United States many years ago, I have been living in rural areas where I need to drive to get around. Walking is no longer part of my daily routine, and because I live in the northeast, with long winter mouths when we mostly stay indoors because of the harsh climate, there is even less incentive for us to go outside. I go to my local gym to use machines such as the treadmills to get the cardio exercise I need.

But all that changed in early 2020 when the pandemic hit, my gym was closed for two months due to the lockdown instituted by our local government. That was when I started running around my neighborhood, weather permitting. It was a personal challenge to exercise outdoors at the beginning, especially on harsh cold winter mornings when I questioned my own sanity. As I settled into the daily routine, I came to enjoy the experience as the outdoor terrain presented a different challenge to my body. I also got a pleasant surprise from my new formed habit – the opportunity to get to know my neighbors. I found out there were plenty of like-minded runners and walkers who enjoyed the crisp early morning air as much as I did. We exchanged pleasantries when we ran into each other and unknowingly we formed a comradery.

For a long while, I thought I got enough exercise by sticking to my daily morning run routine. During this past summer, when there were fewer hot and humid days, I started going for short walks during the day and after dinner too, usually it was a short one mile 20 minutes’ walk around the block. It has been six months since I added this new daily walk routine, to my surprise, it has made a tremendous difference to my mental well-being. I find myself being in a much better mood throughout the day. I also notice there has been some improvement to my cognitive function. I can concentrate and perform tasks with more ease nowadays.

It’s no great surprise I enjoy walking so much. Whenever I travel to foreign countries where I find myself struggling to overcome jetlag, instead of staying in the hotel room and catch up on my sleep after I land in a country, I try my best to stay awake and go out to explore. I particularly enjoy walking in cities that are foreign to me. I see it as an opportunity to soak up the sight and sound, digesting what a new environment has to offer. I find the daylight exposure helps my body to adjust to the time difference, and I can overcome the jetlag much faster. It also helps to set myself up mentally by getting myself organized, energized, and refreshed for the journey that lies ahead.

Walking gives a noticeable lift to my mood during the long winter mouths when we run the risk of being affected by seasonal affective disorder SAD. The main theory is that the lack of sunlight exposure we experience during the autumn and winter months may stop a part of the brain called the hypothalamus working properly. Therefore, by increasing the amount of sunlight we are exposed to by going for a daily walk, we help to reduce our risk of developing SAD. I am very sensitive to light and its effect on me. I know the lack of daylight during the winter has a negative impact on my mood. I try to make the most of the hours when it is light and get outside; even the soft light on a cloudy day provides my body with the light it is craving. Walking, being one of the effective exercises, influences the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin which are the feel-good neurotransmitters, in turn it helps making me feel better.

I also find my daily walks have been of great help to my sleep routine. Multiple studies have found that people who are exposed to greater amount of light during the daylight hours, most notably between 8:00 a.m. and noon, fall asleep quicker in the evening and suffer fewer sleep disturbances compared to those who are not exposed to light. The exposure to light, especially during the early morning helps regulate our circadian rhythm (our body’s natural 24-hour cycle), which means our hormone levels are primed to help achieve a good night sleep.

Walking outside also gives us a wider perspective when it comes to our perception. Instead of staring at our smartphones or computers screen which narrow our field of view and therefore limits our perspective. Being out in the environment gives our mind the space it needs to focus on the here and now. We can enter the mindful state more easily and it has proven to be beneficial to mental health.

Speaking from my years of pursuing landscape photography, I also find walking, particularly in nature to be beneficial to my creativity and cognitive function. If I think about it, most of my best thoughts come from walking, and certainly a lot of my best photos are made while walking. Research published by Harvard Medical School in 2016 concluded that just 20-30 minutes of aerobic exercise – aka, a brisk walk – before undertaking a mental task may quicken reaction time and sharpen decision making. Nowadays whenever I find myself facing the challenge of making difficult decisions, I go out for a brisk walk before I decide what is the best course of action.

Just keep walking. The more we walk, the better off we are.