Unlike my husband who can proudly show off his London marathon medal, I was never a long distance runner and always dreaded the 3000 meter runs we had to do at school. I was however very fast at 100 and 60 meters and often got selected to race and compete for my class but running was still never my favourite sport. I always preferred to walk. And the reasons are many. It is not an activity I necessarily chose simply for exercise. I have many other ways to work out. It is more my way to meditate. To get the alone time I sometimes desperately need. My way to sort my thoughts and get time to look inwards. Somehow walking always sets off my creativity and I always come up with the best solutions and ideas during my walks.
I guess my love for long walks started as I got my first dog at the age of 11. I had been begging my parents for years and they decided that once I was over 10 years of age I was old enough to manage the responsibility it required ( obviously with their help and support ). It was one of the biggest moments of my life, the day when we collected the 10 week old Welsh Springer Spaniel called Timmy. A four legged furry creature who became my best friend. Timmy required a lot of exercise and I had to live up to my promise to care for him the best I could which meant getting out every morning at 5 am before school, no matter the weather conditions, and take him out for long walks every day.
As years passed by and Timmy sadly passed away I still continued to walk every day. I remember when I lived in Singapore and we lived in a beautiful black and white colonial villa on Swettenham Road - not far from the Singapore Botanical Gardens. I got up every morning at 5 am sharp. It was pitch dark and I headed out along the empty roads surrounded by the deafening noises from the jungle and rainforest that was waking up. It was usually still dark as I headed through the gates and into the park. I could barely see the many Chinese elders that religiously gathered on the lawns to do their morning Tai Chi as they started their day. I went for an hour and a half just by myself whilst the rest of the household was fast asleep. I loved that time to myself. I could watch the sun rise over the palm trees whilst walking along the pathways amongst the immensely lush greenery. I always kept my mobile with me in order to write down all the ideas I came up with as that was the time they all bombarded my brain and I needed to remember them all.
I still have a daily routine which include a long walk in the morning each day. We are lucky to live near the sea both in Dubai and where we have our home back in Sweden and walking by the sea is extra healing for me. The sea and I have a very special relationship and is a place of comfort I always turn to. The sea to me is a friend. If I was ever sad or angry I used to go down to the sea to find comfort. I can still recall how I as a child could go out in the wildest storms to just stand in the rain and the howling wind on the beach facing the sea with tears running down my face complaining about some terribly injustice I had faced that day. To me it has always been like the sea has a spirit. I have always felt a bit like Disney's Moana where the sea protected me. So walking by the sea adds an additional level to my experience. These days I still bring my phone and tap into various audio books, you tube channels or podcasts to further educate myself and try to satisfy my never ending desire to learn everything and anything. I dig deep into topics that interest me and I then feel fulfilled by having made an attempt to grow and better understand the world that day. I often also end my walks by sitting on the beach or the rocks to meditate.
I am not alone to have discovered the power of walking. One of the old Romans most popular leisure activities was strolling, or ambulatio, as they called it. It was very popular for intellectuals to take long leisurely walks to stimulate the mind. Many of the most successful and creative people throughout history also made walking an integral part of their daily routine. Aristotle, the famous Greek philosopher and pupil to Plato, held his lectures while walking the grounds of his school in Athens. Dickens too found relief in walking and Soren Kierkegaard claimed that his success almost completely depended on his walks.
Beethoven was another example of a man who took regular walks for his creativity and, just like me, carried paper and pen with him in case he came up with some good ideas.
Albert Einstein was yet another famous person who also took long walks when he needed to solve complex problems. And funny enough - mostly on the beach - just like me. Interestingly a professor in neuroscience at the University of California San Francisco claims that the ocean makes people naturally feel safe, and as Einstein, and I, have realised; the calming effect of the ocean makes a walk on the beach the perfect environment for thinking and introspection.
Walking is an amazing activity for both body and mind. Not only does it improve circulation and burn those excess calories but improves your mental health and emotional wellbeing as well as increase your creativity with an incredible 60 % ! And it is an activity most can do regardless of age. Walking right after a meal can also lower your blood sugar levels and researchers at Duke University have found that a 30-minute walk three times a week may be just as effective in relieving the symptoms of depression as much as the standard treatment of anti-depressant medications.
In 2016 actor Chuck McCarthy started a company called “ The People Walker “. He wanted to inspire people to walk who otherwise might not have the motivation or were scared of walking alone. It offers companionship and human connection whilst exercising and he describes the experience to not be very different from going to a confession or a therapist or hairdresser. Walking with another person wether it is a professional , paid ’ people walker ‘ or a friend can obviously be quite therapeutic too. Something I often also do with my sons as I feel that during our walks we truly bond and get a chance to end up in very interesting and deep conversations.
Another benefit of daily walks is the fact that you expose your eyes to daylight, something modern humans get far too little off these days. The reason day light is so important is that it sets our circadian rhythm, or body clock, via specialised light sensors within the eye. We need to remember that humans have lived a very different life for thousands of years and we are still designed for that outdoor life although modern life offers a very different lifestyle. Back in the days we spent the majority of our time outdoors and got into a harmonious rhythm with nature and the environment around us. These days most of us work indoors and don't get the same amount of light exposure. Without any access to light, the human body clock appears to get out of balance which can cause sleeping problems. Luckily in Dubai we have plenty of sunshine and light every day and do not need as much light exposure but those living in Europe and countries where days are short during the winter season and there may be many weeks of cloudy and rainy days need more time spent outdoors to regulate the circadian rhythm.
So get your jogging shoes on and get out and walk and see how it affects your wellbeing. As Hippocrates said : “ Walking is mans best medicine”.
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