Walking! I love it and have done it most days for most of my life. I think part of the reason that I love walking aside from the physical and mental benefits, is simply being outside. Rain, overcast, windy or shine I love being outdoors and being present in the natural environment around me.
Walking is without a doubt my movement meditation! For many years I have greeted the day with a walk (or cycling to an office/ group training). I start my day with this routine because I am always grateful to see the early morning, there is just something about the light at that time of day, and to watch and listen to the birds wake up, but more importantly it gives me an opportunity to mentally prepare for the day. By starting my day this way, I am productive, mentally positive, and less prone to stress. Some mornings I share my walk with others and or I take part in some group training first and then walk my puppy after. Either way my morning movement helps to boost my energy and reinforces the importance of being fully present throughout the rest of the day.
It has always been a wonder to me why we underestimate the power of walking, because according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics walking is quite popular, with almost 53% of females walking for exercise regularly. While it is low-impact and may not be as intense as a cardio workout like running or boxing, or a gym class, the benefits are still impactful, and the positive benefits particularly for women as we age and transition through Meno are worth more of a look.
According to the Heart Foundation of Australia walking for an average of 30 minutes or more a day can lower the risk of heart disease, and stroke by 35% percent and Type 2 diabetes by 40% and while the risks of heart disease are broadly known did you know that an Australian woman dies of coronary heart disease almost hourly in Australia, that is around 20 women a day! Women’s heart disease risk profile changes with the Meno change, so this is good reason to get walking, if you can.
Commonly women struggle with weight gain at the Meno change, and while there are studies that say this weight gain is not necessarily due to Meno itself, rather it is lifestyle choices leading up to and during this time, walking is great for burning calories! Walking briskly engages your arms, and several upper and lower body muscles. It has more benefit if you vary your pace, include intervals of inclined, or uneven surfaces, rapid walking, or a short sprint, to elevate your heart rate. Managing your weight through walking will equally help to manage blood pressure and lower blood cholesterol and studies have shown that aerobic exercise such as a brisk walk will decrease our appetite by changing the levels of hormones that drive our hunger. So, if you are a post dinner snacker, why not throw in a walk around the block instead of a snack!
Walking can prevent and control diabetes and as Diabetes Australia explains this is because our body uses glucose as a source of energy. The more physically active you are, the more energy you burn. Imagine your muscles as a sponge, and whenever you are physically active that sponge soaks up the glucose in the bloodstream to support the energy demands required for movement. The more glucose you use, and the closer you regulate your blood glucose levels, the lower your risk of developing diabetes-related problems.
Research published by the university of Sydney in July of 2023 has found that short bursts of Vigorous Intermittent Lifestyle Physical Activity (VILPA), such as bursts of power walking, amongst other things, has been linked to reducing your risk of developing some cancers. Published in JAMA Oncology and led by the University of Sydney, the study used data from wearable devices to track the daily activity of over 22,000 ‘non-exercisers’. Researchers then followed the group’s clinical health records for close to seven years to monitor for cancer. And what they found according to Professor Emmanuel Stamatakis is that “It’s quite remarkable to see that upping the intensity of daily tasks for as little as four to five minutes a day, done in short bursts of around one minute each, is linked to an overall reduction in cancer risk by up to 18%, and up to 32% for cancer types linked to physical activity.” So literally even a 4-5 minute brisk walk down the street and back on a lunch break will help you.
Walking will help you to maintain your bone density, reducing your risk of osteoporosis and fractures and at the same time it also increases your muscle strength, coordination, and balance which in turn helps to reduce our risk of falls and other injuries. Walking is a weight baring exercise, and it involves our feet and legs supporting our own body weight, this makes our bones work harder and this makes them stronger. I think we forget that bone is a living tissue and like our muscles becomes stronger with exercise and studies have shown that weight-bearing exercise can help to build bone. Activities that put stress on bones stimulate extra deposits of calcium and get your bone-forming cells into action. Walking will generally only impact those bones that bear the load of the exercise, i.e., those in our lower body, including our hips. The more intense, the more impact it will have. So walking is a great way to maintain our bone density however we can do it.
As I said that the start of this article, walking daily is my movement meditation and it can be yours too, to help improve your mood and headspace. Recent studies have shown that walking results in increased blood flow and blood circulation to the brain and body and this is particularly important to release endorphins that influence our hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which regulates our stress response. Personally, I use my walk to really disconnect from my phone and other distractions and I use this time to be fully present in my surroundings and centre myself. If you really want to give your mind a positive charge, try walking with others, either friends or an organised walking group. Walking with others can reduce loneliness and if you are in the modify stage of your Meno change, may give you the opportunity to connect with someone in a different way. Walking as a positive social interaction can improve negative moods, ward off depression, and improve self-esteem. I recently completed the 35km Coastrek on the Fleurieu Peninsula with 3 girlfriends. It was a wonderful experience and achievement, but what I loved most about this was the training in the lead up to the event with my mates, in different natural environments. The connection to each other was deepened and the adventures into the great outdoors, spectacular!
Lastly walking in nature when you can, will bring all the positives discussed above to a whole new level. For me I get out of the city once a week and do a walk where I am bathed in green or blue. By that I mean in a national park, nature reserve, forest or on the beach. It is not just the getting out of the city, for I am blessed to be able to walk through almost 10kms of city parks where I live and I even see a koala from time to time, but it is equally the sense of adventure, newness and wonder that make getting out of the city special. For example, the low fog in the hills in winter, the still water and a dolphin popping its fin out at the beach, or discovering a dam for long gone steam trains, that you had never seen before in a national park, plus there is all the flora and fauna at different times. In recent decades, investigators in health economics have intensified research on the role of nature contact and the environment as a general health promoter, given the rapid urbanization and decline in human contact with nature globally. What these studies have uncovered is that even with small amounts of contact in nature our psychological well-being is improved through happiness, well-being, positive social interactions, cohesion, and engagement; a sense of meaning and purpose; improved manageability of life tasks; and decreases in mental distress. They have also found an improvement of cognitive function, memory, attention, impulse inhibition; as well as imagination and creativity. Nature experiences have been associated with improved sleep and reductions in acute and chronic stress, which are major risk factors for mental illness, especially depression. The more time in nature the less likely you are to experience anxiety disorders, attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and depression.
In summary there is a strong relationship between walking, walking in nature or with others and good health outcomes at all stages of life, but especially during the Meno Change. Walking is easy to start any time, everyone has access to it, there are few barriers to entry, and it is generally free!
The top three things I recommend getting you moving through walking are:
- Prioritise your personal care and implement a healthy daily habit that will give you a personal dose of positivity and presence! If you are just starting on your walking journey, take baby steps, like a daily trot around the block, and work up to a goal that you set and can achieve and then reset if you want to. If you are a regular walker, like me, then try a small tweak of VILPA to your habit. Remember to walk to your capability, this is for you, there is nothing to prove to anyone else!
- Try getting out of the city and into nature on a regular basis. We have so many wonderful parks, reserves, forests, trails, and beaches and if you don’t have a car, many are accessible via public transport, so there is literally no excuse to not try and change it up. If you are not sure where to go have a look at https://www.walkingsa.org.au/.
- Why not join a walking challenge with your friends or join an organised walking group to make new friends or even make your next family holiday walking based to really try out some new experiences and bring some adventure into your walking practice. There are many, many options depending on the type of challenge you wish to do, the distance you wish to walk and the time to you have to do it in; the cause you wish to support or the type of walking experience you wish to have and of course the budget you have to be involved or travel. Put yourself out there and try something new, there is a wonderful world of movement, nature and adventure waiting for you!
