The value of walking.

During our retreat, we will be walking.

That doesn't mean we're going to walk too fast or too slow for you.

It doesn't mean we're going to walk too far or not enough for you.

We'll find the right balance together.

Some people say that walking daily can reduce or nearly eliminate most chronic diseases and sources of pain.

How can something so simple and free do all of that?

I've come up with 17 benefits of walking.

Let's talk about them.

The first one is blood flow and blood pressure modulation.

If you are experiencing low blood pressure, walking will speed it up.

It's a perfect beneficial stress to raise low blood sugar.

If you're feeling cold, walking will stimulate blood flow.

It'll go all the way through the body, all the way to your fingers and toes.

You just need to keep moving the body and you will keep moving your blood.

It'll warm your toes, warm your fingers, and come all the way out to perhaps even make pink skin and pink cheeks.

If you have high blood pressure, walking will slow that down.

It'll give your blood a purpose.

It'll be delivering nutrients to your muscles and using blood sugar.

And your beneficial stress from walking will start to alleviate emotional and other stresses that are keeping your blood pressure high.

Besides blood flow, Reason number two has to do with your lymphatic flow and your immune system stimulation.

So the blood moves around the body because of your heart pumping it around.

Lymphatic fluid only moves around when you move.

Walking creates whole body lymphatic flow.

And since your lymph system and your immune system are intertwined, that means walking provides immune system stimulation as well.

Your lymphatic fluid is in charge of carrying toxins from the cells into the bloodstream for your liver and kidneys to deal with.

So walking stimulates detoxification of the cells.

The third benefit to walking is related to blood sugar.

When you walk, you use muscles.

Big, strong, powerful muscles of your legs.

Muscles use sugar or glucose in order to contract and lengthen.

So walking will draw blood sugar from the blood into the muscles and lower your blood sugar levels.

One of the best ways to work off some ice cream or a piece of cake or even a glass of wine is to take a walk.

The fourth benefit is core strengthening and toning.

Your core muscles are the ones that keep you operating safely and gracefully.

And all of your core muscles need to work when you are walking.

All the way from the arches of your feet to the pelvic floor to your abdominal muscles to your deep hip Deep shoulder and spinal muscles.

Walking has a little twist of your chest over your hips.

Walking involves swinging a leg and swinging arms, connecting hands to feet through your spine, toning your core.

The fifth benefit to walking is digestion stimulation.

It's related to your core strength.

Core stimulation.

When you walk, you're massaging your digestive system, all the soft, squishy bits in your belly.

That stimulation and massage of your digestive system encourages the muscles that make up your small intestine and large intestine to gradually move your food out so frequently.

If you didn't need to take a poo before you took your walk, you'll need to take a poo after your walk.

The sixth benefit to walking, at least if you are outside, is fresh air.

Even if you're inside, walking requires good, deep breathing in order to feel good.

Those big breaths bring in fresh air into the lungs and then blowing out the stale air that might have gotten trapped in the bottom from taking shallow, stressful breaths.

The seventh benefit to walking is the use and strengthening of your postural muscles.

Standing is a constant balance to not fall over.

Walking is often actually easier for your postural muscles.

Everything gets a chance to participate in walking.

Your legs, your hips, your core, your spine, your arms, your shoulders, even your neck, even your tongue.

All of your postural muscles participate in a walk.

The eighth benefit to walking is your eyesight.

All too often in our modern world, we spend hours looking at things that are close to us.

Reading, looking at the screen, looking at your phone, talking to a human.

When we look far away, it's a different situation.

Within the eyes, the muscles work in a different way.

That's probably more relaxing.

So when you take a walk, if it's outside, look far away.

If you're stuck inside for your walk, defocus your eyes.

Or even better, close your eyes.

Keep your hands on that treadmill.

The ninth benefit to walking is it improves your balance.

Particularly true if you are not walking on a paved surface.

So taking a walk in the woods or in sand or on gravel or up a hill or down a hill all makes you work your balance in a very different way than a flat, paved surface.

Benefit number 10 to walking is that it gives you a change of perspective on your day.

Oftentimes, I find myself telling clients that if you're having a hard day and you've gotten to a point in your work when you're no longer making progress, don't stick with it, don't persevere, and push through it anyway.

Take a pause, get up, take a walk.

Your brain will change from the walk.

You will get a chance to reset.

And when you come back from the walk, I'll bet that problem has been solved already in your mind because you were walking.

Not trying too hard.

The 11th benefit to walking is how it connects you to nature.

If you're walking outside, look at the trees, listen for the birds, feel the breeze, smell what's around you, connect to the world around you.

If you're walking inside, it's okay to put a pretty picture or a plant or a vast of flowers in front of your treadmill.

It's okay to listen to birds or the ocean sounds as you walk.

You don't really have to walk and listen to music or your boss's messages or be on a call.

You could connect to nature.

The 11th reason for walking is that it both warms you up and cools you off.

How is that possible?

Well, blood flow.

If you're walking, it's going to warm you up.

That blood flow is going to move around, you're going to get a little bit warm.

That blood's going to go out towards your skin and you're going to feel warm everywhere, deep on the inside and on the skin.

But suppose that you've been dealing with a bit of inflammation and you're kind of already warm, too warm for comfort.

Walking actually helps cool you off because of how it activates your immune system.

Your lymphatic system uses up inflammatory things such as high blood sugar, so your walk can cool you off once it warms you up.

13 the benefit of walking number 13 a boost of energy.

While it might be hard to get yourself up off the couch, out of your chair, out of your car to take a walk, you will likely find that you actually feel better after you take that walk.

You have more energy, not less.

Walking is a slight stress, a beneficial stress.

You'll get just the right hormone boost from the walk to support feeling good and feeling energetic, but not so much that you won't be able to go to sleep later.

That sleep is important.

Benefits number 14 walking reduces most pain and protects your joints.

It doesn't reduce all possible pain.

If something is hurting worse because you took a walk, it only makes sense to stop or slow down or make a change.

But because a lot of pain is generated from stiffness and stillness and lack of movement, many people find that the pain goes away when they take walks.

Walks can protect your joints, lower cholesterol, support healthy hormone balance, shift your stress level and improve your sleep.

And that definitely gets us up beyond 17.

Walking protects your joints because as you walk, there's a little bounce up and down, there's movement through your joints, you're bringing protective fluids to line the joints, you're bringing blood flow to the area, you're creating pliability through your joints, you're stimulating your liver, you're changing your hormones, a little bit more testosterone, a little bit more cortisol, just in the right levels for your walk.

And then when the walk is over, things balance back down to a new normal and you feel better.

Walking shifts your stress level.

Take a big yawn to start your walk, start relaxing a bit, and what you'll find is that as you walk, your stress level changes from the emotional mental stress you've been dealing with.

Maybe held holding in your body, maybe just held in your mind and emotions and your mood and your jaw.

As you're clenching your jaw, trying not to talk to your boss or your husband, your stress level will shift from your walk.

Your body will feel better, your mind will feel better, and walking can improve your sleep.

It's a great reason to take that after dinner walk.

That after dinner walk will help settle your digestion, will help move things along through your digestive system, will help send the blood sugar into the muscles where you want it, and will change your nervous system.

Your stress level and all of that put together improves your sleep.

If you didn't get enough of the beneficial stresses during the day, you won't be able to go to sleep, you won't be able to rest.

There's nothing to bounce back from or recover from.

You need the right challenge.

So take a walk in the morning, take a walk at lunchtime, take a walk in the evening.

They're all wonderful.

Enjoy your walk, thank yourself for the walk and thank yourself for the walking that we will do together on our retreat.