Walking is the most basic form of exercise, and the most readily accessible. It requires no special equipment and can be done anywhere, by virtually anyone. For the athletic, walking helps the body warm up before more strenuous activity and cool down afterward. For people who are not in good enough shape for most other kinds of exercise, walking is still possible, and is a good way to get into better shape.

Walking exercises the mind as well as the body, even as it gives the mind a chance to relax and wander. Any walk of significant length, whether it is undertaken for exercise, to get somewhere, to walk a dog, or just for the enjoyment of walking, stimulates the mind. Going for a walk is how many creative and intellectual types find their greatest inspirations.

The potential to be inspired by a walk belongs to all of us, whether or not we consider ourselves creative, whether or not we consider ourselves intellectual, and certainly whether or not we consider ourselves athletic. Even wheelchair users can gain inspiration by moving about in the open air.

Ironically, the best way to receive inspiration on a walk is to not set out to be inspired. Make no plan except to walk. Perhaps you have a route you always follow. Perhaps you prefer to try a new route. Perhaps you have a dog to walk, who likes particular spots. Even if the purpose of the walk is to go somewhere, the walk itself is as valuable as the destination.

In the same vein, walking is good exercise even when there is no plan to exercise. Some people make it a formal exercise by timing their steps, wearing weights, or carrying barbells, and calling it a power walk. But if it is just a walk, not a power walk, it is perhaps even more powerful. Turning a walk into a goal, other than getting somewhere, or other than the walk itself, creates a distraction. If there are no distractions, the mind can flow free. Muscles and breath can move at their own natural pace, with no pressure to increase it. Inspiration can flow in.

Perhaps you will see or hear something while walking that inspires you. Perhaps the inspiration will come from your own thoughts, wandering as you walk. Simply moving about in the fresh air may be enough to help you decompress and refocus on something new.

And inspiration is not only inspiration to do something. It may be a new thought that will never be voiced anywhere besides your own mind. It may be simply noticing how things are today, how the light filters through the leaves on that tree, how that dog barks when you pass that house, how the air smells during each season.

This is, in fact, how the creative process works. Inspiration cannot be rushed. Whether the thing to be created is a novel, or a work of art, or a new invention, or a new gourmet recipe, the mind needs its downtime, even as it is still working. Many of the ideas acquired during the creative process will not be evident in the finished product. But they are still part of it, because they were part of the process.

Similarly, walking works the body without feeling like work. Though it does not build obvious muscles the way weightlifting does, or speed up the heart the way running does, walking strengthens everything. If you walk regularly, your muscles will gradually become stronger. Your stamina will increase. If you were already in good physical shape, walking helps maintain it. If you have been out of shape, walking is the easiest way to get yourself in better shape, and ready for more strenuous exercise.

Walking is the basis of all exercise, and the basis of all inspiration. It is at the heart of anything creative, binding together mind, body, and spirit.

Learn more about this author, Megan Stoddard.
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