Why Walk?

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A 2023 study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that one in ten premature deaths could be prevented if everyone engaged in moderate-intensity physical activity like brisk walking for 11 minutes daily (approximately 75 minutes per week). Furthermore, the study suggests this amount of physical activity may lower the risk of some of our top causes of death, such as heart disease, stroke and cancer.

The US is in the midst of a loneliness epidemic.  One landmark study showed that lack of social connection is a greater detriment to health than obesity, smoking and high blood pressure. Strong social connection leads to a 50% increased chance of longevity, strengthens your immune system (research by Steve Cole shows that genes impacted by loneliness also code for immune function and inflammation), helps you recover from disease faster.

Research has shown curiosity to be associated with higher levels of positive emotions, lower levels of anxiety, more satisfaction with life, and greater psychological well-being. Of course, it may be, at least partially, that people who are already happier tend to be more curious, but since novelty makes us feel good, it seems likely that it goes the other direction as well.

In 1853, Henry David Thoreau wrote in his journal, “All nature is doing her best each moment to make us well—she exists for no other end. Do not resist her.”  Time in the outdoors offers the benefit of mental rest and rejuvenation, it has been shown to improve memory, attention, impulse control, and creativity in the general population.