Use Simple, Effective Ways to Settle Your Thoughts and Destress

Use walks and mindfulness to wind down easily

“I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown. For going out, I found, was really going in.” — John Muir

Many people absolutely dread going for walks. They think it’s boring. Or tedious. I think that’s just a viewpoint though. A perception that can be changed.

If we just think of walking or jogging as exercise, we can easily fall into that spiral of self-defeat.

You know the one I’m talking about, right?

Does this look a little familiar?

1. Late December 20XX you signed up for a gym. They had a New Year’s special, and you felt it would force you into the new habit (and a new 6 pack).
2. January comes, you hit the gym like a bat out of a wet market. You go twice the first week. 4 times the next. 6 the third!
3. Then you miss a day when you swore you would go. You feel like shit.
4. You go 0 times the next week.
5. You cancel the membership a year later.
6. Gyms love self-defeatists.

But there is another way, you defeatist you.

Twelve years ago I trained and completed an ironman triathlon. I came in dead last. By a huge margin. But I finished.

Why did that happen? Because I royally screwed up my knee with all that training (and years of playing soccer probably didn’t help). But that’s okay.

Later on, I had knee surgery and mostly recovered. But I don’t run now. And I certainly don’t try to compete in 31-mile triathlons anymore.

So what was a guy in his early 30’s with a bum knee and an ever-growing spare tire around his belly to do?

Walk!

That’s the amazing habit that I formed. I’ve been doing it for 6 years now and haven’t regretted a minute. I’ll walk across the city. I’ll walk to work in the morning and back home at night.

I’ll even walk to that daunting gym a few days a week now.

I’ve lost over 60 pounds from it. I’ve come up with hundreds of ideas (and handily wrote them down in my phone). I’ve listened to thousands of hours of interesting podcasts and even more songs on Spotify.

I need my walks. They’re as much a part of me now as my permanently damaged knee.

But the reason I love walking so much isn’t for the sake of exercise. It’s the value I gain out of it. It puts me at peace. It relaxes me.

If I feel like being productive I’ll throw on a podcast about a subject I’m learning. If I feel like thinking and being mindful, I’ll tuck the headphones in my pocket and just experience the surroundings.

These walks are for ideas like water is to a plant. Whenever I need to think about a problem in a new way I walk. Another extremely frustrating day in the office?

I walk. And I think. And I mind the surroundings.

And that’s what really started making this a life forming habit — the mindfulness. It’s my meditation and key to being a much more centered person.

Sure, there are a couple other amazing benefits to going for a walk:

1. Promotes weight loss
2. Reduces and protects joints from inflammation and arthritis
3. Boosts your immune system
4. Helps combat stress eating and improves insulin regulation
5. Improves the mood and general mental health
6. It rhymes with squawk, and that word always makes me laugh

When you start that practice of walking most days for an hour — encompassed in your thoughts — a sense of relaxing calmness starts enveloping you.

For me, it’s the time at the end of the day to reflect on everything that’s occurred; both good and bad.

It’s that chance for me to look at what happens during a busy day from a different light.

It’s that opportunity for me to think about family and friends and fun memories from distant lands and pasts.

Apparently there’s even a professional name for what this is.

R.A.I.N.:

• Recognize
• Accept
• Investigate
• Non-identify

Here’s a good article on the subject from author Mike Sturm, for those curious.

R.A.I.N. is a formalized method of mindfulness practice.

A way to separate your problems of the day from becoming the you of tomorrow.

We are what we repeatedly do, after all.

If your day is stressed (as many of ours are), people can slowly start identifying with that stress.

The stress and triggers can become the person — and that’s just not cool, is it?

Go walk, be mindful, and learn to relax.

When I go for my usual walks in the evening, I don’t make it formal, I don’t set out to specifically attack a problem I’m dealing with.

I just let the flow of the walk guide me.

The music and podcasts I usually listen to are just a trigger and a motivation for me to set out on the walk in the first place.

I highly recommend it if you’re new to daily walking as an exercise.

I cannot stress how big a part of my general mental happiness is due to the long walks that I’ve incorporated into my life over these years.

The peace, calmness, and self-reflection that it allows me to do have had an incredible effect on my life and I strongly encourage anyone reading this to try it themselves.

Just try it for 1 month, you only need 30 minutes 5 times a week to gain most of the benefits in the list above.

Believe me, after doing it for a while you won’t view it as a chore. Your perception of walks will change from one of boring dread to eager glee.

So what are you waiting for? Go for a stroll.

J.J. Pryor likes to write about rabbit holes, humor, and whatever tickles his brain. You can find more of his work here or add him on Facebook and Twitter.