Walking is a wonderful way to enhance your mental health. It doesn’t matter if the concerns you carry are light or heavy, walking is the king of all mental health cures.

When your head is full, walking lets you outside those four walls that are slowly closing in to see the objective world outside of your head. Whilst walking you can think more clearly and see things other than just the problems.

Walking also helps with the emotions that clog up clear thinking. The battle with emotions is that we try to hold them in. When you walk, anger, anxiety, sadness and exhaustion will all find a physical expression and so can discharge with less discomfort.

Walking is also very good for your physical health, and as we all know the mind and the body are utterly linked. Regular walking is a mild exercise that has you raising a sweat without punishing physical consequences.

Walking regularly will have you feeling more toned, losing weight, and improving in fitness in no time. Improved physical health has you more effortlessly making better decisions about what you eat and drink. Sleep patterns will tend to improve.

Walking is done well alone but it is also a great relationship-building tool. Walking with a person that matters will help you synchronise your steps together. Even conflicts can be walked away since the exercise requires that you continue looking forward together as you move along the same path.

Just going for a regular walk is really good but to make the most of this potentially transformational activity, think of walking as a meditation. Be aware to slow your careful steps and deepen your breathing. Make a decision about the thought you will allow and hold fast to that. Strive to be mindful of all there is in every balanced stride.

Walking is a most accessible exercise with wide ranging positive consequences. You don’t need any special equipment, skill or training. You just open the door to your house and step outside and then repeat the stepping behaviour til you find yourself having walked back.

Martin Hunter Jones is an honorary life member of the Australian Counselling Association. He has a practice on the Northern Beaches. Phone 9973 4997.