Daily life is stressful. There are work deadlines, chauffeuring children between various clubs and friends' houses, meal preparations, attempts to maintain a basic level of house cleanliness, and so on.
By the end of the week, I feel like a wind-up toy that’s running out of juice. And that’s before the Christmas countdown begins… throw in the bedlam of the ‘season of goodwill’ and I’m at breaking point.
I wanted to find a quick fix to help me regroup and rebalance, as well as clear the brain fog that's been setting in. I read that nature can be healing for both mind and body, a sort of free detox that doesn’t require any formal medication, expensive spa treatments or dreaded yoga sessions.
Could nature be my way to de-stress? I decided to give it a go, resolving to walk every day for a week to see what impact it would have on my stress levels.
I decided to take my blood pressure before and after each walk to measure the direct impact on my body. I also planned to explore different landscapes to see whether this might have an impact too.
What I discovered was truly remarkable and will impact how I manage my time and stress levels moving forwards.
*To keep things simple, I have categorized my blood pressure readings as low, medium or high.
What happened when I went for a daily walk?
Monday's walk: Workday walk, through the fields
Blood pressure before: High
Blood pressure after: Medium
New week, new walking routine. But Mondays never pan out how they should, right? A lost homework book and a missing right shoe meant we were late for school and everyone was fractious.
I’d planned to walk in my lunch break, but this was quickly abandoned due to a hectic work schedule. I managed to dash out for a quick, local walk before picking up the kids from school. My blood pressure was relatively high at the start but was moderately brought down post-walk, though I'm not sure my clock-watching and checking emails on my phone while walking helped!
READ: I was once 17 stone but walking changed my life
Tuesday's walk: A riverside stroll
Blood pressure before: Medium
Blood pressure after: Low
Feeling like Monday was a bit of a failure, I successfully carved out more time for a walk along the riverbank on the second day of my experiment.
I was feeling emotionally slightly tetchy after last a late night phone call with my mother, on top of general world news doom and gloom. That said, the sun was shining and I caught a glimpse of a Kingfisher dashing by.
Walking beside the water felt refreshing and I noticed my mind becoming less agitated as I focused on the landscape instead of my woes. I was surprised at how reduced my blood pressure was after this walk.
Wednesday's walk: A walk with the kids
Blood pressure before: Medium
Blood pressure after: Low
After yesterday’s success, I decided to take the kids on a walk in the park after school. Initial reluctance from the children raised the stress-o-meter for the first part of the walk, but running through trees, picking up conkers and talking together made us all feel good. Plus, there was a noticeable reduction in squabbling between the kids and I found that post-park, my blood pressure was lower again.
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Thursday's walk: An urban amble
Blood pressure before: Medium
Blood pressure after: Medium
I was looking forward to today’s walk as it was a rubbish work day and everyone was grumpy. Rather than sitting on my phone during my son’s sports club, I decided to walk through the streets of Bath.
I enjoyed exploring new parts of the city but noticed that I wasn’t relaxing in the same way I had been in greener spaces. There was a lot of distraction, cars and noise and I felt strangely more inclined to look at my phone as I walked.
INSPIRATION: Burnout: How 5 days disconnected from the world changed my life
Friday's walk: A woodland wellness walk
Blood pressure before: Sky-high
Blood pressure after: All-time low
I had a day off work and I was excited to travel up to Symonds Yat to try out Forestry England’s new ‘Wellbeing Trail’.
The day didn’t start well as I was running late and found driving on the motorway extremely stressful. My blood pressure was sky-high on arrival, but entering the woods and following the mindfulness instructions dotted around the marked trail was transformational.
I felt myself physically relax. I noticed the colours, sounds and scents of the forest. My headache disappeared and I found myself smiling. Whether it was the accumulation of five days of walking or the mindfulness prompts, I don’t know. Maybe it was both, but I recognised how well this remedy was working for me.
Saturday's walk: A walk on the beach
Blood pressure before: Medium
Blood pressure after: Medium/low
My weekend off to a shaky start with the dog deciding to eat the youngest child’s much-treasured homework project. Though I was mildly relieved at the excuse to put the remnants out for recycling, overall dealing with the fall-out was somewhat stress-inducing. I assured my distraught child that a walk on the beach would help.
Our stroll along beautiful Berrow beach in blustery weather did the job and everyone was happy and relaxed when we piled back into the car. Though my blood pressure only dropped a little (I put this down to manic frisbee-chasing), I felt great; happy, stress-free and restored.
Sunday's walk: A local stroll
Blood pressure before: Low
Blood pressure after: Low
On day seven, I set out for a walk through the fields close to my home looking forward to my walk-therapy.
Across the week, I’d been finding that my phone was a distraction so decided to leave it behind. Feeling calm and unhurried, I noticed more around me - the trees, the clouds, the birds calling. I even decided to take off my shoes and walk barefoot having read about the benefits of grounding. It was thoroughly enjoyable until I noticed a large cow pat in close proximity and swiftly put them on again.
How do I feel after a week of walks?
My week of walking was quite a revelation. As well as lowering my blood pressure, I felt calmer, happier and more relaxed both during and after each walk.
I’d been struggling with brain fog and having difficulty concentrating on anything, but walking provided an enduring clarity in my mind that I found remarkable.
Even with the days now becoming shorter, I plan to stick as closely as possible to this daily ritual to help my mind and body relax and find calmness. A natural, stress-busting remedy indeed.
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