How a Daily 15-Minute Walk Can Change Your Life

A mellow walk by the river could change your life. Dinant, Belgium.

Going outside for 15 minutes per day is enough to change the trajectory of your day and cumulatively, day after day, can radically improve your life. At least, that's what the research tells us.

According to Michael Finkel in The Stranger in the Woods, "Japanese researchers at  Chiba University found that a daily fifteen-minute walk in the woods caused a significant decrease in cortisol, along with a modest drop in blood pressure and heart rate." Cortisol is the primary stress hormone, so this research indicates that spending time in nature is a natural stress reliever.

And this isn't just a one-off study. According to Florence Williams, author of The Nature Fix, a team of researchers from the Finnish Forest Research Institute "found that people began to feel psychologically restored after just 15 minutes of sitting outside in both the park and forest." But moving through a natural environment by walking increased these effects, especially in a forest.

While stress reduction was one measure, the benefits found in the Finnish study "weren't just about relaxation." The researchers also measured vitality, "which you’d think might rise in the city," but "only nature did the trick, although it took forty-five minutes of sitting and strolling. The study participants in the park or forest felt 20 percent better than their urban-streetside peers, and they also reported feeling more creative." (Source) On top of the studies mentioned here, Williams' book goes on to detail numerous scientific studies that show the measurable impact of daily time spent in nature.

I found these benefits by accident

Through my Outside 365 challenge, I stumbled on the benefits of a quick 15-minute walk in the woods entirely by accident. Before the challenge, I would mostly head outside when I was embarking on an adventure—a 3-hour mountain bike ride, an entire day spent shredding pow in the mountains, climbing a 14er, etc. While of course, these activities all provide great psychological benefits in addition to the physical, being a weekend warrior isn't enough to combat the demons that ravage us throughout the workweek. So I sought a better way to connect with nature on a more regular basis.

During a busy workday, that method of nature connection is generally walking. It usually takes me about 20-25 minutes to walk a mile at an unhurried pace, and that turns out to be plenty of time to feel the benefits outlined by the researchers above. Many days, I'll reach the early afternoon and feel mentally frazzled, tired, and distracted. But if I can pull myself away from the screen for long enough to get out in the woods and go for a stroll, I find that upon returning to my desk my focus has returned, my creativity has been renewed, and I can often complete the rest of my workday in a radically more productive and inspired fashion than I would have otherwise.

Walking Is a Super Power

Simply walking has proven to be so transformative that I have a hard time comprehending how I missed these benefits before. A walking break during the day consistently and predictably alters the course of my day dramatically for the better. How did I not realize sooner that going on a walk was such a superpower?

I think many of us have missed this.

I recently had a friend adopt my Outside 365 challenge, and I mentioned to her that "I always find it amazing how going for a walk can change the trajectory of my day for the better."

She replied, "11 days ago, I wouldn't have agreed with you. My mental health got super bad recently, and I decided I had nothing to lose and to just get up earlier and start walking before work. Fucking game changer!" And now she’s up to 34 days!

Walking Is Enough

Many times when we set a goal for ourselves, like going outside and being active every single day, we tend to overcomplicate things. We tend to add too many parameters to the goal, which then only increases the likelihood that we'll fail. (Or maybe that's just me?)

If you're considering taking the Outside 365 challenge but haven't spent much time recently being athletic outside, I'd like to encourage you to just go for a walk. Walking is enough.

You might be amazed by the places that simply going on a walk will take you!