- Practicing active mindfulness for an hour and a half a week helps walkers be more mindful as they walk through the rest of their week. Mindfulness walkers report that they have more patience with people throughout the week. They are less likely to jump to blaming or judging. They are willing to ask more questions and to keep trying to understand. They know there’s more to the story if they keep looking and listening.
- Mindfully walking unfamiliar neighborhoods is a breeding ground for insight –you know, those ah ha moments where you make a connection that had been eluding you? Brain research is revealing that you can train your brain for insights. And being mindful while walking unexplored areas allows the brain to make new connections, and Walkers are reporting insights! Think about the power of group insights!!! Mindfully walking unfamiliar areas as a group opens up all kinds of ideas for a team of people. Funny how we ask our board members, department staff, or project teams to sit around a conference room table, often in a windowless room, for strategic planning or brain storming. Instead, get out and walk unfamiliar neighborhoods together, without talking! The brains will open up! It’s the ultimate corporate retreat. And it’s free!!!
- Practicing mindfulness while walking the neighborhoods of your city builds empathy. Walkers report that they have more compassion. In an age where people are more isolated and disconnected than ever, mindfully walking neighborhoods moves an abstract view of complicated issues to a concrete, tangible understanding of the people affected. This makes way for empathy.
- Exercise!
