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Walking promotes resilience as it helps to cope with life's challenges, fosters creative thinking, and enhances cognitive mapping of the environment. It also aids in maintaining muscle mass, slowing down aging effects, and promotes social interaction and synchronization with others.
Walking primes the brain by engaging in preparatory movements that challenge the brain and activate positive brain rhythms. The act of walking facilitates cognitive mapping and learning. Movement challenges the body from top-down signals to foot-ground interactions, benefiting brain functionality.
Walking is likened to medicine, activating positive brain rhythms, aiding in creativity, stress reduction, and escaping self-centered thoughts. Optic flow generated during walks stimulates brain activity, enhancing positive feelings associated with movement and nature interaction.
Walking boosts mood, providing enduring positive effects and reducing stress levels. Studies show improved well-being from walking in nature, indicating increased connectiveness with the environment. Regular walking supports mental health and cognitive functions over time.
Simple steps include adjusting commuting patterns to incorporate more walking, walking before meals, choosing longer routes for daily activities, setting reminders for regular walks, and engaging in walking activities requiring problem-solving or creativity.
Walking facilitates creative thinking by balancing big picture focus and detailed attention. It allows for mental clarity, problem-solving, and idea incubation. Slow-paced walks support deeper contemplative thinking, while faster walks promote heart health and physical fitness.
The accessibility of walkable environments, public transport, footpaths, and green spaces significantly influences people's walking habits. Designing environments to promote walking can positively impact overall physical and mental well-being.
Tailoring walking speeds based on intentions, such as brisk walking for cardiac health and slower contemplative walks for reflective thinking, enhances the benefits of walking. Walking with others fosters social connections and solidarity, contributing to emotional and physical health.
In this episode, a renowned Oxford-trained neuroscientist teaches you the most incredibly simple, science-backed hack that will change every single part of your life in just 10 minutes.
Professor Shane O’Mara, academic writer, author, and Experimental Brain Researcher at Trinity College in Dublin, walks us through the mind-blowing research behind, of all things, walking.
You’ll be shocked to learn how the right kind of walking can lower depression and anxiety without medication.
Professor O’Mara explains 3 different types of walking: one way will boost your creativity, another will make you more productive, and a third way will make you a rockstar problem solver.
You’ll also learn about the incredible cognitive, mechanical, and physiological chain reaction that happens in your brain and body during a simple walk.
The research and neuroscience will empower you to use walking to help you:
If you’re short on time, bullshit. Put your earbuds in and get outside.
Are you ready? Hit play, and let’s walk.
Xo, Mel
In this episode, you’ll learn:
05:29: Want a younger brain? Start moving.
09:48: You won’t believe these benefits of a 10-minute walk.
11:29: Is your environment working against you?
16:28: Here’s how walking is just as good, if not better, than your antidepressant.
17:20: This is what happens when you get outside and into nature.
20:50: What the heck is a “walking mind”?
23:54: Walking makes you more creative if you do this.
31:34: Turn up your energy while you walk using this incredible metaphor.
32:56: The shocking study that explains how walking changes your personality.
36:07: Don’t have enough time for a walk? I call BS. Here’s why.
39:00: Professor O’Mara suggests your walking routine should look like this.
42:32: 5 easy ways to get in more steps every day.
47:03: This is why you want to make it a habit to walk at night.
52:06: Feel like you don’t belong? Here’s how walking can help.
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