Walking is one of the simplest things we can do for our health. It doesn’t require a gym membership, special equipment, or a complicated training plan. You can walk almost anywhere, and even a relatively short walk is a meaningful way to move your body.
But I want to challenge you to think about how you walk—not just whether you walk.
I recently talked about this on a Lifestyle MD Soundbite episode, Put the Phone Away. Sometimes we get so focused on getting our steps in that we miss another opportunity walking gives us: the chance to disconnect for a little while.
Take a look around the next time you're out. How many people are walking with their heads down, shoulders rounded, and eyes fixed on a phone? Maybe you do it too. I know how easy it is to reach for our phones without even thinking about it. We answer a text, check an email, or scroll through social media. Suddenly, we've walked several blocks without really noticing where we are.
What if we used some of our walks differently?
Walking Is More Than Exercise
Walking is physical activity, but it can also give our brains something many of us don't get enough of: space.
Think about how much information we consume throughout the day. Emails, texts, podcasts, social media, news, work notifications—the list goes on. Even when we have a few quiet minutes, many of us instinctively reach for our phones and fill them.
A walk can be one of those rare opportunities to give your brain a break from all that incoming information. You can notice the temperature outside, listen to the birds, pay attention to your breathing, or look at the trees and the changing seasons. You can also simply let your mind wander. That's not wasted time.
Research suggests that walking can support mood and creative thinking, and spending time in natural environments may offer additional benefits for our mental well-being. Looking at our phones while we walk can also change our attention and even the way we move.
That doesn't mean you need to turn every walk into a mindfulness exercise. I certainly don't. It just means there may be value in occasionally letting a walk be just a walk.
Try an Intentional Walk
Here's my challenge: the next time you go for a walk, put your phone in your pocket and turn off your notifications or put it on silent.
Then just walk.
Look ahead instead of down. Let your arms swing. Notice what's happening around you. And if you feel a little bored at first, that's okay. We're so accustomed to constant stimulation that doing nothing but walking can actually feel strange.
If you enjoy listening to music or a podcast while you walk, I'm not suggesting you have to give that up. But every once in a while, try leaving the earbuds out too. Give yourself 10 or 20 minutes when no one is asking anything of you and you aren't consuming anything.
Disconnect to Reconnect
Technology isn't the enemy. Our phones help us work, communicate, navigate, learn, and stay connected to people we care about. I use mine just as much as anyone else.
But being constantly connected isn't the same thing as being present.
Sometimes one of the healthiest things we can do is intentionally create a little space between ourselves and the constant stream of information coming at us. A walk is a simple way to do that while also doing something good for our physical health.
And yes, I recognize the irony that you may be reading this on your phone—or perhaps you heard me talk about it on The Lifestyle MD.
So finish reading. Then put the phone in your pocket and go take a walk.
You might be surprised by what you notice when you aren't looking at a screen.
This article was inspired by the Lifestyle MD Soundbite episode, Put the Phone Away.
Dr. Angela Andrews, MD, DipABLM, is the owner and lead physician at Direct Primary Care of West Michigan, host of The Lifestyle MD and author of “Listen to Her”.
