Mindful Walking Activities to Relax

How often are you sitting during the day? It might be more than you think! Getting up doing mindful walking activities are beneficial for several reasons. Your brain needs and craves movement, which is why sitting still for too long isn’t good for our bodies or our brains. If you’re feeling tense or stressed, try some of these mindful walking exercises to relax.

Benefits of getting up and moving

First, let’s go over some of the main benefits of walking. In order to get your heart pumping, you don’t need to do intense cardio. There are so many health benefits of just going for a walk around the block, including:

• Improved digestion: when you walk, it helps move food through the digestive track, and can even help prevent constipation.
• Improve blood flow: sitting for too long impacts circulation. By getting up and moving, it helps move blood throughout your body, especially to your legs.
• Reduce anxiety and depression: a 2017 study showed that walking and meditating can actually help reduce feelings of anxiety and depression.

How to practice mindful walking

The truth is, it’s much simpler than you might think. There are plenty of resources online if you want to look for specific scripts, similar to journal prompts. You could also listen to mindfulness podcasts on a streaming service. However, in order to practice mindful walking, all you need is yourself and a good pair of shoes.

One thing that walking helps you do regarding mindfulness is be present in the moment. Music and podcasts are good to listen to, but you’ll notice that you’re less present when you’re listening to something else. That’s because, even if you don’t think you are, your brain is focusing on what you’re listening to, and you aren’t paying attention to your thoughts or the world around you.

Therefore, to truly practice mindful walking, it’s best to focus on the sounds around you, your breathing, and what your body feels like. This can feel uncomfortable at first, especially if you’re used to listening to a show or music constantly. Trust me, it’s beneficial!