We are designed to walk, so what is there to know about it? If we can get from point A to point B, most of us barely think about it…until there’s pain.

Even if walking itself doesn’t hurt, some varieties of back and hip pain can benefit from more mindful walking. Small changes in our movements and intention can support greater ease and stability.

When there’s pain and stiffness in the lower half of the body, it’s easy for something simple like walking to start feeling like hard work. It’s also not uncommon to assume that walking might be adding to the problem when it suddenly doesn’t feel as easy as it used to. But unless you have an acute injury like a sprain or a fracture, please keep walking.

Walking can serve as an important element in your path to pain-resolution if you use it right. But it’s also so essential to our existence, it’s worth prioritizing at all stages in life. In people 65 years and older, walking (and speed of walking) is an established predictor of lifespan because of how integral it is to our biological existence.[1]

There are probably more than 3 things to talk about here, but I personally can’t stand long lists. So, I’m calling this the top 3, not because they are the most important but because they are top of my mind at this moment.

I want you to shift how you think about the act of walking. It’s not just for getting from one place to another. The rhythmic motion of walking is also an important driver of our biology.

1. Walking for your brain

A psychotherapeutic tool called EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) was initially inspired by a walk in the park. Francine Shapiro, one of the early developers of this technique noticed the connection between a particular type of eye movement during walking that also links to decrease in depression. It’s a technique now widely used for the treatment of trauma and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Naturally the neurobiology behind EMDR it is much more complex but the gist of it is that the side to side movement of our eyes necessary for walking in nature, can be a brain game changer.

You can read more about EMDR here: https://www.emdr.com/history-of-emdr/

2. Nourish your body — literally

Walking creates demand for blood flow and air flow, both of which drive life.

In order to move our bones, we rely on our muscles to power that movement. In order to create those muscle contractions — a rhythmic and coordinated squeezing and releasing of muscles on all sides of each limb and torso — blood and oxygen are drawn in and out of the cells. The more we move, the more nutrients and oxygen are called for and delivered. It’s all about supply and demand.

The more nutrients and oxygen that circulate in response to increased demand, the more hydraulic and mechanical pressure there is to push out and eliminate waste products from our cells in and around the muscles.

3. Defying gravity

Moving our bones in a coordinated way to achieve forward motion requires balance and coordination. This is something that recruits a part of the brain that has nothing to do with conscious thinking and planning. The cerebellum (Latin for “little brain”) — near the base of the head close to where it joins with the back of the neck — is responsible for calculating and predicting many things — one of which is our position in space relative to other objects and landmarks. The fact that we can sit and stand and take steps without staring at our feet the entire time or having to hold on to furniture to guide us is thanks to our cerebellum.

Walking is a major tool needed to keep these automatic balance centers calibrated and fine-tuned.

Walking your pain away

Yes, sometimes a simple shift in our attention, can help us very effectively use walking as an antidote to pain.

If nothing else, paying attention to what your body is doing while walking can reveal useful information about the pain — whether it’s low back, hip, leg or foot.

This is what I’ll be getting at as I progress through the next 3–4 posts in this series. There are so many individual nuances to address. If there’s an aspect of walking or lower body pain that you are curious about, pop your thoughts in the comments and I may address it an upcoming post.

To follow along, you can check back next Friday or just sign up to get the email directly in your inbox.

---

[1] Samawi HM. Daily walking and life expectancy of elderly people in the iowa 65+ rural health study. Front Public Health. 2013 Apr 18;1:11. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2013.00011. PMID: 24350181; PMCID: PMC3854856.