who is going to join me for a walk?
Four years ago, in lockdown, I started doing an early morning walk once a week, I did it as a one off to begin with but I enjoyed it so much I kept it up for 9 months. I didn’t miss a week, I even did it on Christmas Day and New’s Year Day as they fell on a Friday that year and Friday was the day I had allocated to go for my Dawn Walk. I had got into such a committed pattern that I couldn’t bear to break my stride, literally, even for the Christmas holidays.
Then something must have happened to break this habit, on reflection I think it might have been something to do with dawn getting earlier and earlier again, but I found just one break in the walks and my good habit just stopped.
I met up with a good friend the other week who had done quite a few of these walks with me at the beginning, virtually, and we said how much we had enjoyed doing them. We would send each other photos of our walks as we did them simultaneously from different places. It was lockdown and too early in the morning to actually meet and do them together. It made me remember how beneficial they had been and that conversation has inspired me to start doing them again.
So last week, almost 4 years to the day from my first dawn walk, I set myself the challenge of setting my alarm at 5.30am, and rather than hitting the snooze button and thinking I’ll do it tomorrow, it’s too early, I’m too tired, my bed’s too cosy, no-one will know if I don’t do it… I got out of bed, got ready and was off by 5.45am.
I only intended to do 5km to start with, but it was such a beautiful morning and I rediscovered a walk I had forgotten about and then kept adding a little extra on, and then another little bit extra, I simply didn’t want to go home too soon, and it was still before the rest of the world was active, and before I knew it I ended up walking 11km! And I was still home before work!!
So do you fancy joining me, virtually, from wherever you are and getting up at dawn, once a week for a brisk, peaceful and mood boosting walk?
It wouldn’t be a Calmer Thoughts blog if I didn’t tell you what the benefits of taking an early morning walk are:
sleep
Exposing yourself to natural light so early in the morning could really benefit your sleep, admittedly you might not think so as you drag yourself out of your warm and cosy bed, but it will definitely help with your sleep in the long run.
As soon as you expose yourself to natural light within 2 hours of waking, you reset your internal body clock, or your circadian rhythm, alerting your brain that the day has started. It suppresses the production of melatonin, our sleep hormone, leaving you feeling more awake and alert. That is why in the winter, with shorter daylight hours, we can easily feel out of sync and this can lead to low mood or even depression.
If you struggle getting to sleep it could be that you are not being exposed to enough natural sunlight early in the day.
Exposing yourself to early morning sunlight also triggers the release of my favourite neurotransmitter, serotonin – the happy, feel good hormone which can really boost your mood and general outlook on life. It’s very hard not to feel happy, brighter and lighter whilst you are walking in nature. It gives your brain time to switch off from all the pressures of every day life.
mood
You also create something known as optic flow, which means that as you are walking things that are naturally static, such as trees or buildings, are going by you. As you move forward; the trees stay in the same spot. Dr. Andrew Huberman, a neurobiologist, states that as we experience optical flow, it quiets some of the circuits responsible for stress. If we walk, run or cycle, it shifts the brain into a state of relaxation that’s not seen when we are stationary. When you move through a space and you’re active, there’s a natural calming of the brain circuits involved in threat and threat detection.
increase your life span
If you pick up the pace and walk briskly for 30 minutes you could potentially increase your life span, by preventing cardio vascular disease. Brisk walking means that you are breathing faster than usual – you can talk but you wouldn’t be able to sing, you are aware of your heart beating faster and you feel warmer. A good way to keep a good, brisk pace is to listen to an upbeat track of music. Dr Michael Mosely suggested “I’ve got a feeling” by the Black Eyed Peas.
To benefit from brisk walking you don’t need to do this all in one go, so over the course of a day if you do 2 or 3 short brisk walks that add up to 30 minutes in total that is still just as beneficial.
weight loss
If you walk really early in the morning before you have eaten anything, your body will be using reserved fat stores. As you are not over exerting yourself, it means that you can do this on a regular basis without feeling too tired and exhausted afterwards unlike other forms of exercise.
Which leads nicely onto …
Healthier choices
If you start your day doing something that pushes you a little bit out of your comfort zone, and makes you feel that you have achieved something you wouldn’t normally do, you are more likely to follow through with healthier choices throughout the day.
Rather than feeling sleep deprived and sluggish, which often results in reaching for quick-fix sugary or unhealthy snacks to keep you going, you will come back feeling alert, focused and energised, motivated to keep this feeling and mood going by making better and healthier food choices.
mental clarity
A morning walk may help improve your mental clarity and ability to focus throughout the day. A recent study found that amongst older adults, those who started their days with a morning walk improved their cognitive function, compared to those who remained sedentary. So many of us have desk jobs and remain seated for hours on end, so what a great start to your day, to have actually got that movement in before you even begin work.
It can also help you think more creatively. Again, research shows that walking opens up a free flow of ideas, which may help you problem-solve better than if you are sitting or staying inside. This is especially the case if you walk outdoors. So, if you can, avoid listening to music or a podcast and just let your mind wander and drift and simply take in your natural surroundings.
productivity
Imagine how much more productive you could be?
Studies also show that adults who walked for 20 minutes outdoors experienced more vitality and energy than those who walked for 20 minutes indoors. Not only have you ticked off your exercise for the day before anyone else is up, you will have more time to do other things. And as you are feeling more energised at the start of the day you will hopefully get more things done which is only enhanced by having a more productive and motivated mindset.
So now you have heard all of the benefits, who fancies doing it with me?
If you fancy joining me in this challenge, just drop me a message. I will start a WhatsApp group where we can all share our sunrise photos, and/or tag me on Instagram at amanda_calmer_thoughts.
I am making myself accountable by stating it here in my newsletter to you all, that my intention and promise to myself is that I will set my alarm for when it’s dawn and go out and do at least a 5km walk, once a week.
I know that unless I tell someone I’m going to do something, I’m prone to coming up with a multitude of ‘reasons’ to myself why I can’t do that ‘thing’, but once I’ve told someone – I’m committed.
Why don’t you make yourself accountable and make that promise to yourself too?
It doesn’t matter which day you choose, as long as once a week you do a dawn walk, and if 5km is too far, just go out for 30 minutes to get the minimum benefits, all of which are amazing for your mental, physical and emotional health and wellbeing. Plus, as we head into autumn, the bonus is each week you will get a teeny, weeny lie-in as dawn gets later and later.
I also appreciate that going for a walk might not be physically possible for some of you, in which case take some time to go outside and either just sit in your garden peacefully with a cup of coffee and watch the sunrise, or if you can go somewhere local and green to sit in nature for a while, either of which will have amazing benefits too.
Do you accept my challenge?
See you at dawn!