A Walk to Remember? Study Says Yes
www.nytimes.com
So, its been proven that walking is good for stress relief, and now memory gain. Remarkable. Below is an excerpt from the Caregiver Revolution about walking for stress relief…and now memory gain!
Walking and Pedaling
Walk briskly every day for a half hour in your neighborhood or on a treadmill in your home. If you don’t have a treadmill, either march in place at the kitchen counter or set up a circuit that you can walk in your home. Listening to music makes this a little more enjoyable. Or you can pedal on a stationary bike, building up gradually in 5–
minute increments to a 20 to 30 minute session, four to five times per week.
Remember, pay attention to your breathing and keep a positive frame of mind. Your worries will come and then drift away like clouds going across the sky. Don’t dwell on them, just let them go.
This walking or biking time is your time. Don’t let anything distract you from it. You will build up a routine and really start to enjoy it. Ask anyone who walks or exercises if they ever want to miss a session. They probably don’t. They love it. It becomes a
vital part of their daily life. It’s just a matter of getting started.
The word “Stress” actually relates to wear and tear as when the rubber meets the road on a tire or the brake pads pressing up against the rotor in the wheel. The term as it applies to living organisms was first introduced by Hans Seyle in the 1930’s who defined it as the consequence of the failure of an organism (human or animal) to respond appropriately to emotional or physical threats, whether actual or imagined. Thus stress symptoms are the manifestation of a chronic state of responses to stress triggers that are actually benign. Even a thought can set off the same response mechanism that would be in play while standing in front of a hungry lion. Hence, Seyle’s definition still reaches to the heart of stress management; the idea of the response being inappropriate and engaging in a process of altering ones misperception of pending disaster or imminent danger.