Long walks on the beach and candlelit dinners, am I right? (But seriously that doesn’t sound so bad…). I have always enjoyed going for a long walk. I would have days where I would put my headphones in, put my phone on silent, and just wander without any real destination in mind. Other than the obvious benefits of being outside and being physically active, there are really three things that I enjoy about taking a long walk.

Turn Off the Phone

I understand this isn’t easy for everyone. But an important point of making a walk meaningful (for me at least) is either silencing my phone or leaving it at home. Essentially the goal for me is to disconnect for at least an hour (sometimes much, much longer). I try to minimize the distractions and stay away from emails, phone calls, text messages, and social media. Most of the time I like my walks to be solo (although occasionally I will go with someone else – more on that point below) so that I can work on more applicable “mental skills” (listed below). Think of detaching from the phone as a pre-requisite to the work I’m about to do. Although the walk can be fun and should most certainly be enjoyable, there is purpose behind it as well. Which leads me to the two skills below:

Be Present

One of the biggest lessons I am learning to appreciate lately is how to be more present. A lot of this comes from daily meditation (mostly mindfulness practice to be specific), but you can also practice “being present” in a more active way. Being detached from my phone allows me to pick my head up and look around. Observing your surroundings, feeling the wind blowing on your skin, feeling the ground beneath your feet – these are all great ways to connect with the present moment that you are in. It’s easy for your mind to wander while walking (and sometimes that is useful if you are trying to work through some issues), but it useful to practice catching it wandering and bringing yourself back to the present by focusing your attention on things that you can feel, smell, hear, or touch.

Sometimes I will go on a new path while in a new city. This makes it incredibly easy to look around and observe everything that is around me, allowing me to practice being present and appreciate the moment that I am in. However, sometimes I will go on the same path (for instance the walking path by my apartment). This can sometimes become mundane or repetitive. To combat this, I will go on the walk with someone else (usually Kerrin) or play “mindful” games to keep me engaged (“Find five red items”…”Look for three different types of birds”…Essentially like a game of “I Spy” when you were a kid). Whatever your approach may be, the ultimate goal here is to be present and aware of your surroundings.

Challenge NATs

NATs are your Negative Automatic Thoughts. At some point during a long walk you are going to experience something negative. “I’m tired”…”My legs are sore”…”This is boring”…”I should be doing something else”…so on and so forth. I have learned that there are different theories around these thoughts. I am obviously no expert, but essentially you can either ACCEPT that you cannot change these thoughts (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy – ACT) and focus on living your life, or you can CHALLENGE these thoughts (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy – CBT) and try to change them until they aren’t so negative. Regardless of what you ultimately believe in (honestly I try both depending on the situation I am in), the main idea is that at some point you will experience negative thoughts. These thoughts in and of themselves are not harmful to you. Instead, how you react and respond to these thoughts with the actions you take is what gives them power or diffuses them for you. This is another big reason why I love long (meaningful) walks: I am forced to face NATs head-on. For example, as I am walking my left calf may get sore. I feel this and instantly think, “Maybe I should head back” or “I will call an Uber instead of walking home”. These defeat the purpose of the walk for me (especially if I just started walking). I can either listen to the thoughts, or I can “challenge” them and continue to push through them. These thoughts can present themselves in any number of ways, but the main idea is that your mind is going to tell you to stop at some point. You can either listen and give in to it, or you can challenge it and take control of the situation (this concept can apply with running, lifting, going shopping, doing laundry, etc.).

In Conclusion

To summarize this article, long walks are not only beneficial for your physical health and well-being, but can be extremely useful in building “real-life” mental skills. Disconnecting from your phone, practicing being present, and challenging your Negative Automatic Thoughts are all ways that you can take a long walk and make it meaningful for your mental health. Developing these skills in a low-effort activity such as walking can help you to build confidence for using them in bigger or tougher situations down the road.