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positive effect that it has on your body. As you start to feel looser, taller and more energized, take your mind outside your body and start to look around you.

Again, this is something you need to do consciously. Look for those things around you that are beautiful or interesting and be aware of enjoying them. If you find this difficult at first, start with a tree you pass. It is difficult not to see them as a beautiful break to a concrete landscape. With each step, take in more and more detail of your surroundings. This is particularly great to do if you are walking in an area that is completely familiar to you - a place that you think holds no surprises. All you need to do is look more consciously or change your level of eyesight a little. If you always look straight ahead when you are walking, look up little. Notice the second floor of buildings or the writing on the street signs.

Now just relax and enjoy the walk. Your mind will continue to check on the progress of your body and to notice new things around you, or new ways of seeing old things. Why? Because it is enjoyable exercise for the mind.

Meanwhile you are likely to find that ideas and solutions start creeping in, not just for the problem you were actively working on when you started your walk but for things you hadn't even reached in your in-box yet. How long does this take? It depends how much pressure you are under when you start, how good you are at clearing your mind and how difficult the problem is. For some reason, one hour walks seem to be the perfect length for me - anything shorter and I just don't get the great energy boost that comes from walking a little further. Some days I find that I need to just keep walking though and I might not get home for hours.

One of the key lessons that I've had to learn is that this is not wasted time. Even though I may have walked away from a looming deadline, I am always much more productive when I return - report formats and structures are decided in my mind, key points to be investigated are clear to me and words I had trawled the thesaurus for unsuccessfully are readily available.

I don't take a note pad on my walk because I find the process seems to create the idea flow near the end of my walk and it is possible to come home and quickly note down everything I need to remember. You may wish to carry a small notepad and pencil in your pocket though, particularly if you have been under a lot of stress lately.

The two-fold effect of walking is that if you are doing it regularly you get less stressed (exercise in general achieves that) and thus you are actually less likely to hit a mental block in the first place. I try to walk daily, regardless of my other exercise routines, and my mind knows that walk time is its nurturing time.

At the end of the day, you really have nothing to lose by trying! Walking is one of the most highly recommended exercises so the worst that could happen is that you could end up a little healthier. Having experienced years of inspiration through walking though, I am confident that you will be pleasantly surprised with what your walking brings you. So, what are you waiting for?

Learn more about this author, Jacqueline O'Donnell.
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