Clear Your Mind... by Walking

Photo by Tamara Bellis on Unsplash

The other day, I had a long day of work. I didn’t mind it, I enjoyed what I was working on. I wrapped up a project, polished it, and wrote a blog post. It was quite an enjoyable day of work.

But I had a lot on my mind. I felt stressed. I had this thing to do, and that thing to take care of. 

I needed to take a break for a bit. So, I decided to go for a walk.

I left my phone in my pocket and headed out the door. Immediately, I started focusing on the environment around me. There was a lot to take in.

There was a light fog that gave the streets a mysterious atmosphere. The fog blocked the moon and stars from being visible. An occasional house light or streetlight was on, illuminating the area. But I couldn’t see anything beyond the houses roughly a hundred yards in front of me while I was walking.

It was just above freezing temperature on that winter night. The air was misty, with a light drizzle falling. Snow was melting, and I heard drips coming off the gutters from each house I passed. The roads were slushy. Melted snow still covered the sidewalks, but there were also puddles of water surrounded by the snow.

Besides the melting snow dripping from the gutters, the air was silent.

These little details sound quite boring being described. But it was a great change of pace from staring at my screen all day working. They were quite interesting to me while I was walking… because I didn’t have anything else to look at.

My walk helped me clear my mind. My breathing got slower, more relaxed with each step I took. I felt my body relax, easing up on the tension I felt from my long day of work.

I’ve gone for many walks before. But this walk in particular reminded me of how good walks are for us. 

It reminded me of how sometimes we need to slow down. We need to stop and smell the roses so to speak.

We are always on our devices. We’ve got our phones, our computers, our tablets, our TVs, and so on. 

We often use multiple devices at the same time! This overstimulates us. 

I’ve certainly felt the effects of overstimulation before. Tiredness, lack of focus, unproductiveness, stress, anxiousness, and more.

Not very fun. 

Yet, we often choose to live this way rather than trying something different. When we feel overstimulated, we reach for our phones and scroll through social media. We turn to our video games. We turn to our TV to watch some shows or movies. 

Our solution to reach for our devices only makes our overstimulation worse. It prolongs our suffering. It doesn’t clear our mind, it only puts more things on our minds.

Instead, we need to unplug. We need to take some time to de-stimulate ourselves. To let our minds wander, to focus on our surroundings, or focus on our breath. 

We need to have a clear mind to be our best selves. A clear mind increases productiveness, creativity, discipline, and relaxation.

So, try what I did. 

Go for a walk. Leave your phone at home, or leave it on silent in your pocket.

You’ll feel calmer, relaxed, less stressed, and more focused.

P.S. I wrote about another strategy I use to clear my mind by journaling. Check it out here.