Lockdown Life - Benefits of Walking

Throughout lockdown 2.0, the weather has gotten colder and the nights have turned darker. The winter weather brings with it a sombre mood, and so I’ve been trying to do something each day that would not only brighten my spirits, but destress me and improve my mindset.

I’ve been going for a walk everyday – even in the freezing cold and occasionally in the rain.

My mum and I get up, have breakfast and go for a walk. We’re always wrapped up with snoods, hats and gloves; the other day we even took our umbrellas in case it rained. We’ve found that getting in a walk in the morning helps our mindsets, and gets us ready to start the day.

So, I wanted to share some of the benefits of walking with you all.

Here they are:

1. It helps lighten your mood – walking releases natural painkilling endorphins.

2. It can help you lose weight – a brisk walk can burn lots of calories.

3. It can help improve sleep – it relieves insomnia.

4. It’s easy on your joints – it’s not to strenuous and is an easy exercise to do.

5. It can help strengthen your heart – it can reduce your risk of coronary heart disease.

6. It can tone your legs – walking on inclines helps strengthen muscles in your legs.

7. It can boost your energy – it increases oxygen flow in your body and increases the level of hormones that help elevate energy levels.

8. It can help with creative thinking – walking helps clear your mind, allowing you to think creatively.

9. It can extend your life – studies have shown that it can reduce risk of overall death by 20%.

10. It can improve your mood – it helps reduce anxiety and depression and boost self-esteem and a positive mindset.

Maybe you’ve been inspired to get out and go walking, or maybe you haven’t but I guarantee it does help. Give it a go.

Until next time…