Walking is the simplest, easiest, practical, and one of the most effective forms of exercise that anyone can do. It is a great way to improve your looks and more importantly, maintain your physical, mental, and emotional health, without going to the gym. A 30-minute walk daily can do wonders for your well-being. It can help you relax and feel better about yourself. It can also add excitement to your life and give you something to look forward to every day.
While walking may not be as “glamorous” as compared to other forms of exercise, a great number of people prefer walking to jogging. There are many reasons for this.
In my case, I used to fear walking because of my foot injury. Honestly, I thought walking would do no good to my injured foot and only worsen its condition. My therapist advised me to do “light walking” in the morning to exercise my injured foot. At first, I could not understand how walking could help my torn ligament on the right foot heal quickly and how I could even take a few steps without screaming in pain.
“Believe me, walking would do wonders to your foot,” she told me. “You would be surprised by what walking can do to your foot.” And so, with much hesitation, I followed her instruction and to my surprise, I was able to walk three blocks away from my house on the first day, without experiencing any discomfort or pain on my injured foot! Finally, I got convinced that walking really does wonders for the body by making our bones and muscles stronger and firmer. After that, I could cover 3 kilometers daily without writhing in pain.
After that experience, walking has become a part of my regular routine. I try to walk whenever it is possible and made it a habit to have at least a 30-minute walk every evening to relax and remove all the stress of my daily routine. If I am feeling lazy and making excuses not to walk, I would bring along my little furry friend, and together we would walk around the block several times and spend quality time together while walking our stress and calories away. Below are some of the benefits of walking:
- It improves your overall health –One of the greatest benefits of walking is that it improves your physical, mental, and emotional health. It reduces your risks of diabetes, heart issues, and other illnesses. It relaxes your mind and gives you a sense of “inner peace.” And when you have peace within you, there is no doubt that you will be happy and satisfied with everything around you.
- It helps you lose weight and stay in shape-I discovered this truth many years back. It helps you burn fats and lose weight quickly. Try an hour of walk daily and you will see a big difference in your weight and appearance.
- It is free– You don’t need a membership card in order to walk. You can literally walk whenever and wherever you like. And there is no charge or costs for walking. All that you would need is your eagerness to maintain your health and you are good to go!
- It boosts your mood, memory, and creativity-Whenever I needed to write an article or felt pressured because of work and looming deadlines, I would wear my sneakers and “take a hike!” The good thing about walking is that it boosts my mood and helps me dig into my creative side to do the work at hand with quality and beauty. It opens up my mind and makes it easier for my creative juice to flow smoothly and easily and make something out of nothing.
- It’s an opportunity to socialize– While walking, you can meet some interesting people and add them to your circle of friends. You can even bring along your family members so you would have a bonding time and talk about things that your family likes or plan some activities together. It is an opportunity for you to spend quality time with special people and new ones, too.
- Anyone can do it– There is no limit as to who can walk. Anyone can do it, regardless of age, gender, and preference. You can walk alone or with a group; you can walk fast or slow, it depends on you totally how you would like to do your walking.
So the next time you are thinking of a way to exercise and burn those unwanted calories to improve your health, just grab your sneakers and “take a hike!”
