How Healthy Eating, Walking and Yoga Can Provide Lifelong Balance
Continued from Part 1, Healthy Eating
Just as healthy eating provides fuel for the body, daily physical activity, such as walking, provides fuel for the brain. A brisk walk can increase blood circulation to the brain, enhancing mental clarity. According to the American Heart Association, research has shown that the benefits of walking and moderate physical activity for at least 30 minutes a day can help you:
- Reduce the risk of coronary heart disease
- Improve blood pressure and blood sugar levels
- Improve blood lipid profile
- Maintain body weight and lower the risk of obesity
- Enhance mental well being
- Reduce the risk of osteoporosis
- Reduce the risk of breast and colon cancer
- Reduce the risk of non-insulin dependent (type 2) diabetes 1
For me personally, walking has the power to immediately boost my mood and get me away from my job working at a computer screen. When I return from a walk, I feel I have more creativity and less fatigue. I walk for different reasons: for fitness, to converse with friends, to listen to music or an audio book, or simply to clear my head by experiencing nature. Perhaps the latter reason is why Henry David Thoreau’s question in his 1862 essay “Walking” strikes me as profound:
“What is it that makes it so hard sometimes to determine whether we will walk? I believe that there is a subtle magnetism in Nature, which if we unconsciously yield to it, will direct us aright.”
-Henry David Thoreau
The Camino Provides 