W is for Walking

The value of mental-training games may be speculative, as Dan Hurley writes in his article on the quest to make ourselves smarter, but there is another, easy-to-achieve, scientifically proven way to make yourself smarter. Go for a walk or a swim. For more than a decade, neuroscientists and physiologists have been gathering evidence of the beneficial relationship between exercise and brainpower. But the newest findings make it clear that this isn’t just a relationship; it is the relationship. Using sophisticated technologies to examine the workings of individual neurons — and the makeup of brain matter itself — scientists in just the past few months have discovered that exercise appears to build a brain that resists physical shrinkage and enhance cognitive flexibility. Exercise, the latest neuroscience suggests, does more to bolster thinking than thinking does.

My good friend Loreth Anne White sent me a link to this article from which I’ve snipped the above. I’ve talked before about how much I love walking. As long as it’s outdoors. Because I cannot STAND to walk on the treadmill. So stupid when I could be in the air conditioned living room watching the big screen TV. Walking to me is about being outdoors. Usually in the sunshine and slathered in sunscreen, but even gloomy days will do, and misty days, and frosty cold ones, which we almost never get here.

I can’t even tell you how many words I’ve dictated while walking. I used to walk at lunch while working the day job, sometimes on the downtown streets, sometimes on the health club track. I specifically remember dictating a lot of LOVE IN BLOOM on that track. And I’ve walked the dogs in the neighborhood and dictated, two birds with one stone, and all. I’m quite sure people think I’m strange, but moving doesn’t require thought, so it’s the perfect time to let the muse have her way. And then there’s the part about my brain working better, and having more energy, and sleeping like a baby, and not wanting to turn to junk food (or at least as much) when I’m stressed.

I’ve slacked off the last few months, but am determined to get back to it. I feel amazing when I’m moving, even if it makes it doubly hard to sit and write when done!

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