Your Health's Journal

Emotional stress can put a large toll on your mind and body. People often don’t realize how much stress can affect everything from their mental health to the food they eat, their digestion, and their overall health. It is important to relieve stress when you can, which walking can definitely help with.

1-Use Walking as Your Form of Self-Care

As we mentioned before, try to think about walking as a way to practice self-care. This is really important if you have a lot of stress in your life. Remember that walking helps to release endorphins, and is amazing for your mental health as much as your physical health. Try to do it every day for at least a few minutes, whether you prefer walking alone or with friends or family.

2-Walk More Outdoors

Our first tip for using walking to help relieve your stress is to walk outdoors. This can be going on a hike, walking by the beach or around a local lake, taking your dogs for a walk in your neighborhood, or walking to a nearby festival or farmer’s market. Just try to get outside and do some walking.

If you can’t go outside and use the treadmill, listen to something relaxing or gets your mind distracted. This is another way to relieve stress with your walking, since what you are benefiting from is the distraction. You aren’t just overthinking or letting the stress consume you, but just getting more walking done in general.

3-Take it Easy

Try to use walking as a form of self-care and a way to relax, not as your main form of fitness. If your walking routine is a rigorous speed-walking workout, it isn’t going to help you relax much. People often become almost obsessed with their fitness routine early on, even if you are just walking. This can lead to restricting calories, walking longer and harder than you intended, and instead of helping with your stress, making it worse.

If this sounds like a habit you are guilty of getting into, the best thing you can do is stop thinking about walking as a form of fitness or a way to lose weight, and instead just as a form of self-care that is meant to help you relieve stress.

4-Try Breathing Exercises

You can also do breathing exercises and mindfulness as you are walking. Many people find that their walking routine becomes like a short therapy session, where they are able to clear their mind and be present in the moment. It is like a form of meditation, where you really focus more on being mindful during the entire experience.

For breathing exercises, it is really easy to do while you are walking. What you want to do is focus only on your breathing. Inhale and exhale slowly, paying attention to how you feel and what you hear every time you intake a breath. This helps to relax you while you are walking, and can get you into a meditative headspace.

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See you soon,

Ludmilla!