Walking for Wellness: How Daily Walks Brought Me Back to Myself
It wasn’t until the pandemic that I discovered walking — not as a way to get from A to B, but as a way to come back to myself. Like many people, I found myself locked down, overwhelmed, and restless. My only escape was a daily walk.
It became essential. A bowl of milk to the day’s dry cereal. The thing that made everything else make sense.
Each morning, after waking to another repeat of the same uncertain day, I’d lace up my trainers and head out. Sometimes I went uphill, breath catching as I climbed towards the high view that held the San Francisco Bay and Mount Diablo in the distance. Other times, I turned down the trail, earbuds in, passing neighbours who had become companions in this strange shared stillness.
My walks weren’t about fitness. They were about sanity. A way to breathe again before returning to home-schooling, back-to-back video calls, and the quiet chaos of a household running on edge.
The benefits of walking for mental health
I wasn’t alone. According to the Mental Health Foundation, 59% of UK adults said that taking a walk helped them cope with the stress of the pandemic. In the UK, where I spent round three of lockdown, walking was considered so essential that the government protected it — up there with grocery shopping and filling your car with petrol.
These daily walks weren’t just good for our bodies. They were medicine for our minds. For many of us, walking helped re-establish a link between physical movement and emotional stability. And for some, it was the beginning of a new relationship with wellbeing altogether.
Why I kept walking (even when I didn’t have to)
I’ve kept walking. Not out of obligation, but because I now understand what it gives me.
I take a short walk before I collect my daughter from school — a simple mental reset after a day of coaching, writing, and running a business. I walk after dinner, letting the last of the day’s light touch my skin. I park further away than I need to when heading into Bath, giving myself that extra stroll in silence before a meeting.
It’s not always about the steps or the stats. I’ve let walking become part of how I design my day — like eating lunch, brushing my teeth, or drinking coffee. It gives me time to think. Time to feel. Time to stop being just a brain at a screen.
And the dog walkers I pass seem baffled that I walk alone — no dog, no Fitbit, no real purpose.
But here’s the thing: walking is the purpose.
5 mindful ways to walk when the world feels heavy
When I feel unmotivated, overwhelmed, or too busy to walk — I remind myself it doesn’t have to look a certain way. These are five gentle ways to walk that have helped me stay connected, curious, and calm.
1. Take a Colour Walk
This morning, I followed the colour pink.
It was a choice that made me look. Brash pinks and soft blushes showed up in unexpected places — roses in front gardens, foxgloves leaning into the road, a pair of pyjamas flapping on a washing line, and even the warm tone of a village pub sign. The pinks softened the streets I thought I knew.
Try this: Choose a colour before you leave the house. Follow it with your eyes. Notice the tones, textures, placements. Photograph them, sketch them, or just observe. You’re not documenting your walk — you’re getting more into it.
2. Walk Without an Agenda
“Take a walk without an agenda,” said Margaret Heffernan in her TEDx talk on thinking like an artist.
Leave your phone at home. Head out with no destination, no task list. Let the walk shape itself.
Can you hear the difference after the rain? Have the leaves turned? What’s blooming this week? Let your attention wander, gently.
The only cost is your attention. The gift is being where you are.
3. Try an Awe Walk
An awe walk invites you to look at the world with child-like eyes.
Research from the University of California found that regular awe walks can reduce stress, increase joy, and expand our sense of connection to something bigger than ourselves. Participants even began taking smaller selfies — a literal shrinking of the ego.
This week, I walked a slightly different route and was caught by wildflowers pushing through tarmac, a castle glowing yellow under a blue sky, and a pile of painted stones stacked on a gravestone by a child’s hand. Nothing grand, but all quietly wonderful.
Try this: Look for something vast or something tiny. Either way, let it move you.
4. Take a 12-Minute Brisk Walk
If time is the thing getting in your way, keep it short and purposeful.
In 52 Ways to Walk, Annabel Streets encourages a simple 12-minute brisk walk. That’s all it takes to shift your mood, alter your blood chemistry, and reconnect with your body.
Try this: Set a timer for 12 minutes. Walk like you mean it. Breathe deeply. Notice the shift.
5. Bring Company (Human or Otherwise)
Sometimes I take a friend. A quick lunchtime loop before school pickup. Sometimes I take a podcast — lately I’ve been walking with themes like overwhelm or emotional fatigue, choosing episodes that help me think differently.
There’s evidence that some of the emotional benefits of walking come not just from movement, but from connection. The nod of a neighbour. A chat with a friend. The quiet rhythm of shared silence.
Try this: Invite someone to walk with you. Or pick a podcast that feeds your mind as your feet move. Make it feel like a companion.
Let walking be whatever you need it to be
You don’t need to count steps or measure your worth in minutes. Walking is a practice — and like all good practices, it adapts to you. It can be fast or slow, quiet or sociable, structured or loose.
Let it meet you where you are.
If you need to ground yourself: walk.
If you feel cloudy-headed: walk.
If you want to think, or not think at all: walk.
You don’t need a goal. You just need to begin.
So…
What kind of walk are you craving today?
Which of these walking practices might you try?
Or do you have your own that sustains you?
We’d love to hear your stories of why you walk — and what you’ve found along the way.
Your next steps
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