Ruth Gaskovski and Peco have an excellent Substack piece on the value of walking, in which they reflect on the oft-overlooked social benefits of walking.
Jean M. Twenge and Sherry Turkle have both linked the loneliness epidemic to the increased use of smartphones and social media, which provide a sense that we are “connected” while their use can render us more miserable and isolated.
Not only have our relationships withered with the advent of online “connection”, but the interpersonal skills needed to grow friendships such as active listening, asking questions, empathizing, and keeping eye contact have been starved and replaced with texts, emojis, or memes.
Walking can help to establish and/or restore social connections. Neuroscientist Shane O’Mara concludes from his research8 that, “going for a walk with someone initiates joint attention and cognitive and behavioral synchronization in ways that are likely to improve relationships. We fall into step with one another, maintain a common goal or behavioral purpose for a time, create a joint experience, and literally ‘share common ground.’”
We have found that walking can be particularly helpful when navigating tumultuous teenage seas. Walking alongside each other, rather than facing each other across a table, is not confrontational, and the joint movement creates a common purpose. At the end of a walk we may not have fully resolved a problem, but we definitely feel more connected.
O’Mara further notes that “social walking” activates “mirror-neuron networks”:
“We mimic each other’s pace and gait, swinging our arms and legs in unison. This entrains other physical processes: Our breathing becomes more synchronized and our heart rates increase and decrease (as we walk faster or slower, up-hill or down) at similar times. Walking together also elicits social-cognitive processing to help us understand the other person’s intentions and plans and process their social cues (speech, expression, gesture) in order to anticipate their movements and predict their trajectory.”
Not everyone has a friend or family member to walk with, but walking regularly in the same neighbourhood can grow unexpected connections that may start with a simple smile or “hello”. Our octogenarian neighbour goes on a daily one-hour morning walk (in every type of weather) and told me that in the process he has met over two hundred people whose names he has noted down at home.
Also, walk with your children no matter how young they are. Start small, make it a daily habit (we would go out even when the thermometer would drop down to -30C). Walking is the remedy for grumpy moods, and we have not once returned home regretting our outing.
Read their whole piece, “The Annual Walking Rebellion: Restoring the Mind at Three Miles an Hour How to boycott the Machine in 10,000 easy steps“.