How to Take Your Brain for a Walk

Exercise is one of the pillars of brain health, and most of us don’t get enough of it. It’s important to remember that the brain relies on our circulatory system. If circulation is not happening, neither is thought, memory, or cognition. If we have too many sedentary days in a row, or weeks or months or years for that matter, our circulatory system suffers dramatically. The good news is that it is not hard to bring circulation back up to par. One way is to go on a brain walk. This walk is designed to stimulate blood flow to the brain, bring oxygen into the blood cells, and give the brain some extra activity at the same time.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• Walking Shoes
• Agreeable weather
• A Residential Area

1. Make sure you have good footwear. Going on a walk with shoes that hurt your feet or don’t support your frame is counterproductive. You want to be able to move freely, keeping up an appropriate pace for your fitness level, and walk for a good twenty minutes.
2. Choose music wisely. If you like to listen to music while you walk, choose something light for this exercise. You will be engaging your brain in a number of ways, and loud or rigorously demanding music may detract from the overall experience. Find a selection that is easy to listen to and turn the volume down so the sound is in the background.
3. If there is an appealing residential area where you can utilize sidewalks, go for it. This exercise works on trails, too, but residences with a variety of landscaped yards will be the best choice. Start your walk by standing and taking in what’s in front of you. Take a deep breath while swinging your arms up and holding them above your head, elbows straight, then swoop your arms down again, lightly, like a bird landing on the water, while you exhale. Now begin walking and swing your arms, taking strides that are slightly longer than you might normally.
4. Notice the environment around you as you walk, taking in specific details. First, look at the borders of the yards. Are they landscaped or weedy? Is there a fence? Stone or wood? What about the neighbor across the street. Is the border of their yard different? For this step, you are only looking at what is near the ground.
5. As you walk, keep breathing deeply until you hit a comfortable but vigorous stride. Swing your arms comfortably. Now focus your eyes a little higher on the structures above the yards. Take in the details of that height, whether it is mostly fences, the sides of houses, trees, or otherwise. Notice both sides of the street and make mental notes of variations
6. If you can do a loop for this walk, you’ll have more interesting views for the next two steps. Begin looking at the details up high. About the height of a rooftop, and up to the height of lightpoles. Are you seeing anything particularly interesting? Are birds perching on the electrical wires or tree branches? What does the sky look like? Take in the shapes created by the structures against the sky. What is the dominant color you are seeing now? Keep breathing deeply.
7. As you return to the starting point, take in the whole picture of the environments you have passed. This engages the brain in another specific way, requiring the faculty of integration to come into play. At the end of your walk, stand for a moment and bend from the waist, allowing the blood to circulate even more to your brain. Stand slowly, registering each vertebra. Good work!

Tips & Warnings

• Always check with your doctor before starting a new exercise program.