What is wellness?
Well, essentially, wellness is an active process of becoming aware of and making choices toward a healthy and fulfilling life.
Sounds great, right? Who wouldn’t want to make choices that help them feel better, inside and out? But, the decision to embrace wellness doesn’t mean you have to make huge choices that are hard to stick to.
These choices don’t have to be ‘to run a marathon’, they don’t even have to be ‘to run’.
In fact, walking offers many of the same health benefits as running and is something even the least athletic of us can do.
"Walking is a man's best medicine."
Hippocrates
How walking helps wellness
Whether you’re young, old, athletic or not, as our wise and ancient friend, Hippocrates, said, walking can have many positive effects on health. Here are some of the wellness benefits of walking:
1. Better teeth, healthier bones, stronger muscles
Going for a stroll outdoors can help you absorb vital Vitamin D, which helps keep teeth, bones and muscles healthy. Vitamin D can be found in the sun’s rays and in meat, fish and eggs. So making sure you get out in the sun can help you ensure you get plenty of Vitamin D, extra important if you’re a veggie or a vegan!
2. Improve your mood and mental wellness
Backed up by psychological experiments, just by going for a 12-minute walk (even if you’re going somewhere you don’t want to!) will lift your mood and helps combat poor mental health, depression and anxiety.
3. Help your heart
Walking can help get your blood pumping, without putting strain on your heart, and could offer more health benefits than the aforementioned marathon run!
4. Slims your waist line
If you’re looking for a gentle way to lose or control your weight, walking is the one. For instance, Harvard says if you weighed 160lbs (11.5 stone), you’d burn 105 calories for every mile you walked. The equivalent of burning off one-and-a-half tablespoons of sugar!
5. Keep your mind healthy
Some studies have also suggested that a short stroll can help fight off dementia and keep your mind active, as well as your body. In fact, the NHS suggests you could see your chances of dementia drop by 30%!
How walking can help others
Walking is great for your wellness, as the list above shows. But, it can also be used to help other people.
By joining The Twilight Walk you can use this inspiring challenge to walk more and also help lead our search for a cure, propelling progress for everyone affected by brain tumours. Now that is a win-win.
So, what are you waiting for? Get your walking boots on, grab the dog, rally your neighbours and start taking strides towards better wellness and a better world.