HEALTH PLUS:Problems are solved while walking. Decisions are made and hurts released, writes MARIE MURRAY.
'Is there a felicity in the world comparable to this?" asks Marianne in Jane Austen's novel Sense and Sensibilityreferring to the joys of walking.
What a question. What an observation. Because what she recognised then, without the modern parlance on it, is that walking is one of the most enjoyable, most therapeutic, most psychologically interventive ordinary activities that we can undertake.
It is freely available. It requires no appointment, no referral letter, no waiting time for consultation. There is no fee. It is a powerful natural mood altering and enhancing exercise. It has anti-depressant ingredients. It is physically beneficial when undertaken sensibly and it is there at the opening of the hall door any time day or night. It is a "felicity" indeed.
Walking helps mental health and wellbeing, releases tension, stimulates, animates, rejuvenates and invigorates. Walking is psychologically interventive whether life is being experienced as good or bad.
For those who are finding life to be affirmative, cheerful and satisfying to them, walking is a joyous celebration of that. There is the happy stride, the upbeat gait and the exuberant expression of just how good it is to be alive mirrored in the secure, sure-footed, confident step, swinging arms and progressive pace of the happy walker.
Walking is especially interventive for those to whom life is being unkind. It entices the person who is feeling low to get up, out of bed, into clothes and out in the fresh air.
In so doing it re-unites them with the world. But not the world at a manic pace, the world at a measured pace, the world at the pace they decide to negotiate it at. It is at the walker's pace. And for that time he or she is in command.
Psychologically the one thing we can measure is our stride when walking. We determine when we go, where we go and how quickly or slowly we get there. When life is over- whelming, when it seems as if nothing is within one's power, when there is a sense of fore- boding, of fear, of helplessness: being able to walk is one antidote. It says I control me.
Walking may be around the block, familiarising ourselves with every house and garden, the atmosphere, the sense of place, of where we live and who lives there, of local dogs and cats and tidy gardens, or overgrown, of paved paths and gravelled drives, dishevelled lawns or those meticulously manicured. We learn about where we live when we walk where we live.
Walking can be enjoyed alone or in company, undertaken in silence or with a companion in animated exchange. Walking facilitates inner reflection: the rhythmic movement a physical mantra to soothe the body, to calm the mind and reassure the soul.
Problems are solved while walking. Decisions are made. Hurts are released. Joys are celebrated. Perspective is gained. Pain is recognised. Courage restored. All life is with us and we are with ourselves in a unique way while walking.
Walking can begin in beautiful places, by a lake, by the sea, in a forest, across a field, away from urban concreteness with the rugged gentleness of nature. Walking is a calm way to encourage a child, support a young person, solidify a relationship and repair old hurts.
Young people who walk with their parents share something special. Walking allows articulation or silence, it allows questions to be asked, answered or unanswered without the need for eye contact.
Apologies can be given, statements can be made and the act of walking absorbs energy that might otherwise go into heated exchange. There is co-operation in walking, alongside another, going in the same direction and if the family dog is in tow then who could be angry walking behind a wagging tail?
Metaphorically walking reminds us that life is about taking it step by step. We decide whether we double back, plough forward against the elements or shelter for a while. We decide who is beside us and how often we stop to appreciate what is close, whether we whiz by or revel in where we are rather than what lies ahead.
Walking has always been the means by which special physical and mental places were sought. For centuries pilgrims progressed across the world, walking staff in hand, heart with hope, motivation of mind and a willingness to endure whatever was encountered on the road in order to arrive at that person or place that held the answers to the pilgrim's question. Only to find upon arrival that the answer was within themselves all along had they but known. Walking got them there.
Clinical psychologist Marie Murray is director of the Student Counselling Services in UCD