One foot in front of the other
The mental health benefits of walking
Recent studies
Recent studies1 show that we need to urgently prioritise the mental health of our workforce (and not just due to the fallout of the pandemic).
Fatigue, burnout, post-traumatic stress, anxiety and depression are increasing in the healthcare professions. While our employers must do their bit, as responsible health professionals we must also do for ourselves what we do for others. Oxygen mask and life jacket on first please, nurses, midwives and carers.
The physical health benefits of walking are well known, and scientific studies are now proving that walking is also incredibly beneficial for our mental health. While walking improves our cardiovascular health and functioning, increases our aerobic capacity and metabolism, reduces our risk of osteoarthritis and other diseases, and can help maintain weight and mobility, it also provides significant and meaningful boosts to the levels of ‘feel good’ chemicals in our brains.
Recent studies
Recent studies1 show that we need to urgently prioritise the mental health of our workforce (and not just due to the fallout of the pandemic).
Fatigue, burnout, post-traumatic stress, anxiety and depression are increasing in the healthcare professions. While our employers must do their bit, as responsible health professionals we must also do for ourselves what we do for others. Oxygen mask and life jacket on first please, nurses, midwives and carers.
The physical health benefits of walking are well known, and scientific studies are now proving that walking is also incredibly beneficial for our mental health. While walking improves our cardiovascular health and functioning, increases our aerobic capacity and metabolism, reduces our risk of osteoarthritis and other diseases, and can help maintain weight and mobility, it also provides significant and meaningful boosts to the levels of ‘feel good’ chemicals in our brains.
Check in with your body
What scents can you smell?
Pay attention to any sounds you hear
Note the sights and colours you see
What can you feel? The breeze?
Anything else?
Need some inspiration?
Victoria Walks is an evidence-based health promotion charity, leading the move for walkable communities in Australia since 2009. In addition to advocacy and strategy work, Victoria Walks aims to increase Victorians’ walking participation by providing information and resources, such as walking maps.
Visit victoriawalks.org.au to find popular walks near you, dog-friendly walks, kid- or pram-friendly walks, short urban hikes, long country trails and more.
Need some inspiration?
Victoria Walks is an evidence-based health promotion charity, leading the move for walkable communities in Australia since 2009. In addition to advocacy and strategy work, Victoria Walks aims to increase Victorians’ walking participation by providing information and resources, such as walking maps.
Visit victoriawalks.org.au to find popular walks near you, dog-friendly walks, kid- or pram-friendly walks, short urban hikes, long country trails and more.
A daily walk: continuing a habit formed in lockdown
During long lockdowns, many of us were prevented from doing our regular workouts. So we took to walking outdoors. We discovered so much more than the health benefits or the sense of wellbeing that came from treading the pavement, the beach, the bush, the parks, and the streets of our suburbs and cities. In the outdoors (or anywhere outside our home or workplace) we learned the simple joys of walking.
But many of us have since fallen out of the habit of the daily walk. I think we should keep up our efforts, and continue to enthusiastically embrace a cheap, accessible outdoor activity that almost anyone can do in some capacity. The great thing about walking is that it can be done almost anywhere (even indoors).
Not everyone has access to open fields full of cows or long sandy beaches but it’s not just parks and reserves that lend themselves to the regular treading of feet; you also have the streets of your suburb, the main shopping strip, or the hidden little paths and laneways of your cities and towns.
It can help if we try to see our surroundings as if for the first time. Take the outside in, get out of our heads, and connect with the magic and glitter of shopfront windows, the rough brickwork on old buildings, the tourist landmarks we usually ignore.
A daily walk: continuing a habit formed in lockdown
During long lockdowns, many of us were prevented from doing our regular workouts. So we took to walking outdoors. We discovered so much more than the health benefits or the sense of wellbeing that came from treading the pavement, the beach, the bush, the parks, and the streets of our suburbs and cities. In the outdoors (or anywhere outside our home or workplace) we learned the simple joys of walking.
But many of us have since fallen out of the habit of the daily walk. I think we should keep up our efforts, and continue to enthusiastically embrace a cheap, accessible outdoor activity that almost anyone can do in some capacity. The great thing about walking is that it can be done almost anywhere (even indoors).
Not everyone has access to open fields full of cows or long sandy beaches but it’s not just parks and reserves that lend themselves to the regular treading of feet; you also have the streets of your suburb, the main shopping strip, or the hidden little paths and laneways of your cities and towns.
It can help if we try to see our surroundings as if for the first time. Take the outside in, get out of our heads, and connect with the magic and glitter of shopfront windows, the rough brickwork on old buildings, the tourist landmarks we usually ignore.
The science: why walking boosts our mood
Walking triggers the release of endorphins, those remarkable neuropeptides that, at least etymologically, ‘mimic’² the effects of morphine in helping to relieve pain and generate a sense of wellbeing. Walking also releases other neurotransmitters – including dopamine and serotonin – that have mood-enhancing benefits.
On the flip side, walking’s effects on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis help to lower cortisol production and reduce stress. Walking also reduces our brain wave frequency from the beta range (12–38Hz) to the high theta range (5–10 Hz); theta waves are typical when we meditate or are deeply relaxed³.
Dismantle the barrier
— it’s in your head
Sometimes revving ourselves up for exercise can be harder than the exercise itself: we create a barrier by thinking too much about why we can’t or don’t want to go for a walk. Throw in a late or change-of-shift, a cold day, rain, not enough sleep, or the absence of our usual walking buddy, and our best intentions to maintain a walking routine can be thwarted.
But it’s important to remember what our experience tells us: walking makes us feel great: clear of mind, grounded, calm, refreshed, restored and alive.
Walk alone or with people
Some people like to walk alone (or with dogs). The benefits of a good solo walk are multifaceted. Many choose their own company for the ‘me time’ or ‘down time’ they need to clear their heads. A walk gives them the chance to process their day, reflect on work, personal issues, or just to revel in the outdoors.
Others like to walk with other people. For them, the walk can be a social connection, a time to catch-up after an absence, or chat about work. Walking with others brings people together, and provides essential human connection.
What a walk can do
A morning stride in the dawn light can set an open and calm tone for the day. Equally, after a long day at work, a walk can help the stress of the shift dissipate. As we walk, we are recharged, and the balance is restored. We are ready for the next step, the next challenge. This is what walking – especially walking outdoors – can do.
Tessa Moriarty
Tessa Moriarty is a credentialed mental health nurse consultant with over 35 years of experience across public, private and primary mental health and alcohol and drug settings. Tessa provides individual and group clinical supervision to health professionals and ensures that wellbeing and intentional self-care are part of her supervision model and session structure. Tessa is currently collaborating on a book about clinical supervision.
This is an edited extract of an article first published by Nurse & Midwife Support, a 24/7 national support service for nurses and midwives providing access to confidential advice and referral.
nmsupport.org.au or call 1800 667 877.
References
1. Cabarkapa, Sonja; King, Joel A; and Ng, Chee H, ‘The psychiatric impact of COVID-19 on healthcare workers’ Australian Journal of General Practice, volume 49, issue 12, December 2020
2. Macquarie Dictionary definition of endorphins
3. Lineen, Jono, Perfect motion: how walking makes us wiser,
Penguin Books, 2019
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