A lot of us want to be physically fit, but do not know when to start. Sometimes, we have negative thoughts about stretching out. All of us have experienced this feeling. You can do this without exerting much effort.
Walking is one of the most underrated activities that we do all the time. Walking is not just about fitness; it has a lot of benefits than you think. A study reveals that walking for 40 minutes three times a week can help increase your brain’s memory center, the hippocampus.
We can imagine the hippocampus as a library. All of your short and long-term memories, learning, and emotional regulation are placed there. If it is left impaired, it can lead to cognitive malfunctions.
How can walking improve your hippocampus? Walking has five known benefits that not only help improve your memory. It can also aid you physically, socially, spiritually, mentally, and developmentally.
Here’s how a 40-minute walk can help you:
Physical Benefits
A 40-minute walk has more physical benefits than you can imagine. It can help in the blood flow throughout the body. Also, it can shape your body muscles and reduce fat.
Walking can also help expand your hippocampal volume and prevent brain shrinkage. According to the study of Erickson et al. (2011), people who regularly walk for a year have been reported to have their hippocampal volume enlarged by about 2%. The increase in hippocampal volume reverses brain shrinkage and prevents brain ageing.
This simple activity can also normalize the oxygen and blood flow in the body, making your brain younger and growing. If made with consistency, walking keeps your body and brain stronger and youthful. This makes one more active.
Social Benefits
A simple 40-minute walk is not just beneficial for individuals, but also for a group. Inviting your peers to do a walk with you is a healthy activity. It helps regulate the body and establish stronger socialization.
Group walks, if done consistently, help you build a better relationship with other people. No man is an island. Having friends to join you in a 40-minute walk is a different experience. As you aim for fitness, consistent walking with anybody motivates you in life. Help you and your friends against negative thoughts.
Exchanging thoughts, sharing laughter, and beating loneliness stimulates your brain to function. This will help improve your focus and mood in turn. Invite your friends for a 40-minute walk to see how it improves your memory and relationship with others.
Spiritual Benefits
A 40-minute walk has spiritual benefits for everyone. Sometimes, we get away from much socialization. Thus, we do simple exercises alone. It has nothing to do with isolation. We just want to connect with nature.
Having a 40-minute walk makes you mindful and active. This activity helps you relax, reflect, and enjoy the beauty of life for a while. It helps you meditate with nature, keeps you sane, and relieves you from stress.
If included in your daily routine, think of it as your devotion to your life. It can also be the reconnection or a spiritual reset from the world’s negative perspective or thoughts.
Mental and Emotional Benefits
A 40-minute walk is an effective way to reduce stress, anxiety, and depressive thoughts. It can also help you battle the negative thoughts and emotions that cause mental health problems.
According to the study of Harvard Health, this activity raises your serotonin and endorphin levels. This can improve your focus, sleep on time, and stabilize your mood. It regulates your cortisol levels as well. Making you feel balanced and clearer in your thoughts.
This activity pushes your mental and emotional aspects to reset and clear negative thoughts that may have clouded your mental and emotional balance.
Developmental Benefits: Lifelong Brain Growth
Consistent walking helps your brain to reorganize or develop further. This process is known as neuroplasticity. In this process, the brain maintains its status from the possibility of shrinking or decline.
Treat your brain as a plant; it didn’t just survive, but also developed over time. That’s how walking can develop your brain. It acts as a fertilizer to your brain. It pushes your brain you do more and grow further if necessary.
In a study made by the University of Pittsburgh, they found that the person’s brain suddenly shrinks in the early or mid-20s. The same publication found that walking prevents the brain from further shrinking.
In a wider sense, walking prevents cognitive impairment caused by the brain’s shrinking. It makes your brain one of the most flexible parts of your body.
This helps your brain fully develop, which affects one’s lifespan.
Final Takeaway
A 40-minute walk is an activity not to be taken lightly. Although the easiest step for an exercise, its long-term effects are beneficial to the person’s mind.
This helps your brain in getting a strong memory, growing fresh neurons, and reducing the negativities that may affect your life. A 40-minute walk may be sacrificial to your precious time, but it pauses you to think, breathe, and de-stress.
Should someone ask you? What benefit do I get from a consistent 40-minute walk? Realize that it is helping you physically, socially, spiritually, mentally, and developmentally.
This activity may be simple and free, but it is impactful to anybody. Hence, begin your 40-minute walk now and begin taking care of your precious brain.