Take a walk and free up your mind

I'm just back from an invigorating walk with Rosie, my 15 year old border collie, who has more energy than the average puppy - in fact the only person that can really keep up with her is my 9 year old lad - who was once described as having "more energy than the sun." Together they are an unstoppable force.

As I walked this morning I was reflecting on the positive impact of a walk on our mental health. In his fabulous book Spark, John Ratey talks at length about the positive benefits of exercise on our mind. The neuroscience is fascinating and I thoroughly recommend it as a great read. There is some great science looking at how hard and how often to exercise - but this morning I put that all to one side as I let my mind drift during the walk.

Call it what you want - walking meditation, semi-trance or day dreaming whilst walking... ultimately I was letting my mind free as I put one foot in front of the other. It doesn't matter whether you live in town, city, village or country I urge you to step outside and see where you end up. As Bilbo said to Frodo in The Lord of The Rings: "You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to."

Its all too easy to walk and talk on the phone or listen to a podcast. Both are a great use of time but in doing so you miss so much. Instead, open your eyes, see the diversity on the streets and in nature and be amazed by what inspires you.

Adam Baggs Hypnotherapy offers solution focused hypnotherapy in Cirencester as well as online hypnotherapy. Learn more about what I can help with here.