Originally published on nytimes.com
I love a meandering walk, but sometimes I need a little motivation to get up and go. Lately, I’ve been tempting myself outside by visiting a dove that’s nesting in my yard: Every morning, I check to see if her eggs have hatched. Once I’ve got my sneakers on and left the house, I tend to keep walking.
Rob Walker, author of “The Art of Noticing,” said that when he walks, he likes to impose a mission or build a framework around it to add a little novelty and engagement to an activity that is “literally pedestrian.”
“Otherwise, you can easily end up on your phone, or in your head where all you do is ruminate over the deadline that you’re missing or the smartass remark that someone made to you,” he said. “And there could be dragons walking around and you wouldn’t notice them.”
It’s worthwhile to do whatever it takes to stay on the path, because the benefits of regular walks are well-documented. Walking lowers the risk of many health problems including heart disease, anxiety and depression, and diabetes, said Dr. Stacy Imagbe, an assistant professor of kinesiology at Morehouse College.
And you don’t need to do 10,000 steps a day, either; even 4,000 daily steps have been shown to have benefits.
If you need some motivation, here are some of Walker’s more creative ways to take a walk.
Read the full article here.