Walk30 Week 2 Theme: Walking For Community Connectedness And Mental Health
Welcome to Walk30 Week 2! We hope you’ve enjoyed the first week of the Challenge and have had a chance to think about how walking more has made you feel. This week’s theme is all about walking for community connectedness and mental wellness.
Why is this important? Many people have experienced increased loneliness and isolation during the pandemic. Staying home, limiting our contacts, and working and studying remotely for two years has made it difficult to stay connected to our communities and has put strain on our mental health and wellness. Walking outdoors is an excellent way to start building back those connections and lift your spirits!
Walking helps to promote social interaction by getting people outdoors together. Walking with friends, family, coworkers, and neighbours is a great way to remain connected and socialize while taking part in low-intensity exercise.
Walking can help to prevent cognitive decline, meaning it helps increase memory, learning, and thinking abilities.
Walking for 30 minutes per day 3-5 times a week can help to boost your mood and energy by releasing endorphins.
What do we mean by feeling connected to our community? First of all, “community” can take on different meanings and doesn’t just refer to the neighbourhood you live in. You can also be part of multiple communities at once! A community you are part of can be your workplace and the area around it, your school’s campus, your gym, or any place you spend time in, either living, playing, working, studying, or exploring. Community can mean being close to your neighbours, taking good care of the land and nature, doing good deeds with others, fostering an open and safe space for everyone, being aware of what’s going on around you, supporting newcomers, and much more.
When we walk, we are able to see so much more in our communities that we miss while driving. We might drive past a house every day and never realize who lives there, or notice that they have beautiful flowers in their yard, or that they have a playful cat that likes to say hi to passersby! Walking allows us to experience new things about the places we spend our time in and learn more about the people who make these places special.
If it’s been a while since you walked in your own neighbourhood, consider it an adventure! Go for a stroll around your block and make a mental note of the things you come across that you never noticed before. We love to encourage students taking part in the Walk30 Challenge to turn their observations into an art project, but you don’t have to be a kid to have fun! Take photos of what you see for a new scrapbook project or start a journal! Be creative and design something beautiful around the idea of community and what it means to you.
If you’re feeling up for conversation, try saying hi to a neighbour, classmate, or someone in your office building you haven’t met and introduce yourself! Chances are that many people in your community may be feeling isolated and disconnected since the pandemic, and reaching out just might make someone’s day. Perhaps they would like to join you on a walk!
How to walk more in your community:
Have you been stuck on Zoom all day and feeling lonely? Ask your coworkers to go for a walking meeting together instead of sitting at your desks.
Study breaks are important! If you’ve been sitting for a prolonged period of time or start feeling strained from staring at your computer for hours, consider taking a walk to clear your mind and come back to your studies feeling refreshed. Ask your classmates to join you for a walk around campus together!
Take a walk on your lunch break. Whether you work from home or the office, make sure you get some fresh air during your break and take the time to explore the area on foot if you’re used to driving. If you’re working outside of home, pack yourself a portable lunch and take it with you on a walk!
Be creative! Take turns with your friends and family walking in each other’s neighbourhoods and have someone in your group play “tour guide” and show you around!
