‘Walking,” said’’ Hippocrates, “is man’s best medicine.” Of course, he also believed that diseases were caused by an imbalance of the four humours, but he was right about some things, and his love of walking was one of them.
Several millenniums later, we know for sure that regular walking, for about 30 minutes a day, can reduce the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and even dementia. For the able-bodied, it’s pretty much the easiest exercise you can do. And its effect on mental health can be felt by anyone who’s ever dragged herself off her couch despite a general feeling of ennui and forced herself to go outside and get some fresh air.
Many people, however, have horrible memories of being forced out on bracing walks as children, especially at this time of year. If you’re praying that no one in your family suggests heading out for a brisk New Year’s Day stroll tomorrow, a walk might feel more like a chore than a pleasure. So what would get you outside?
It does help if you have somewhere nice to walk. My own love of walks is partly a practical thing – I work from home, so if I didn’t force myself to go for a walk, there would be periods when I didn’t leave the house for days on end. In fact, I began my daily long-walk habit nearly 10 years ago, when my first period of freelancing coincided with a move to Cabinteely in south Dublin. I had never lived so far away from the city centre before, and felt weirdly isolated. But after a few months I made myself go for a walk in the large park that lay just a few hundred metres from my house (in retrospect, I’m astonished it took that long).
The park’s stream, its woods, its hills, its 18th-century house and even the enigmatic white Westie terrier who lived next to one of the side gates made it a joy to walk around. It gave me an incentive to leave my desk. Going for a daily walk kept me sane; if I didn’t go, I felt anxious. When, after several years, I returned to my native north Dublin, I felt real sadness about leaving the park. Now, I walk Griffith Avenue, with its lovely tunnel of trees, or head to the Clontarf seafront, a 15-minute walk away, for some bracing sea air and a view of the blustery waves.
Memory and focus
Walking in a natural setting can have a more beneficial effect than city streets. In a 2012 study carried out at the University of Michigan, people who had been diagnosed with depression showed a greater improvement in memory and focus after a walk in a park than those who walked in an urban setting.
You don’t have to be living with a depressive illness to benefit from walking in a natural environment – for most of us it’s more pleasant to walk somewhere that’s nice to look at, removed from car fumes and bustling crowds.
But that 2012 study also showed that when it came to actually alleviating depression and improving people’s mood, there was no difference between urban and rural walks – both improved the subjects’ state of mind more or less equally.
Walking is also a good way of practising mindfulness, which has been shown to have a positive effect on mental health. "Mindful walking means bringing your attention back to your walking as you go along," says Padraig O'Morain, whose book Mindfulness on the Go will be out in May. "Mindfulness really can be seen as returning your attention again and again from the wandering mind to the present moment. Mindful walking is one way of doing that. If you're a person who enjoys walking along and thinking about everything and anything, that's fine. Just try to give the first 10 minutes or so to walking with awareness."
Walking, says O’Morain, “is very conducive to practising mindfulness – if you are a person who finds it difficult to sit and be mindful of your breathing, for instance. But it’s also a really good mindfulness practice if you’re feeling agitated. I think the rhythm of walking is helpful. Also when you’re walking mindfully you can, if you prefer, try to be aware of movement in your field of vision. This could be birds in the sky, cars on the road, ripples in the river. Or you could be aware of the feeling of the breeze against your face or hands.”
Walking can help you focus on the present moment, but it can also be an essential part of the creative process. Charles Dickens was a famously enthusiastic walker, writing that he loved aimless walking so much that "I think I must be the descendant, at no great distance, of some irreclaimable tramp". His walks around London both influenced his work and helped him to work out ideas and stories in his head.
Creative energy
Virginia Woolf also found walking very helpful when working, writing in her diary that "the way to rock oneself back into writing is this. First gentle exercise in the air." And a long walk was an essential part of the daily routine of everyone from Tchaikovsky and Satie to Beethoven. You don't have to be a legendary genius to get creative energy from a walk. Whenever I'm having problems with writing something, I go for a walk and generally return with the tricky issue untangled.
So if you hear the words "Let's go for a walk!" tomorrow, give it a go. Because apart from the mental and physical health benefits, the great thing about a walk is that it can be as long or as short as you like, which means you can ease yourself in gently with a stroll around the block. And you can always stop off in a cafe for some cake on the way home.
WALK THIS WAY – OR THAT WAY: FIVE TYPES OF FOOTFALL
1 The "festive" walk You're happily working your way through a box of Roses by the tree, when someone brightly suggests a walk. For some, it's a way of blowing away the cobwebs and working off the turkey. For others, it's a waste of relaxing time.
2 The power walk There are those who take walking to another level, striding along at a ferocious speed. I'd rather just go for a run, and keep my actual walking at a comfortable pace.
3 The huff walk "I'm going for a walk!" So many arguments have been brought to an abrupt end with those words.
4 The baby walk There are babies who refuse to go to sleep unless they're being wheeled about the streets like miniature monarchs. How to make these endless walks bearable? Download some excellent podcasts from RTÉ and BBC Radio 4, and listen as you trudge along.
5 The truncated walk It starts out healthily brisk. But then you get distracted by a shop or a cafe, or you bump into a friend, and the next thing you know it's time to go home.
