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If your not already an advocate, I highly recommend walking and talking with your significant other. My husband and I are newly converts and our daily walks together are something we always look forward to.

To be perfectly frank it's the only time we really tend to communicate. Of course, we'll pass comments to one another on the here and now but we only talk of anything of real substance- our future plans, reminiscing on good times- on those afternoon walks. Often, if I have to broach a subject, I'll wait until I can have his undivided attention during our country stroll. I find my husband far more receptive than at any other time as I'm not competing against his beloved online computing games. The incessant shrill of cells are left behind and the constant mutter of the television is effectively a world away. Indeed, he has no choice but to listen to me!

Equally so, whilst I'm at home my mind is always an impenetrable cave; preoccupied with household concerns and jobs that need to be addressed. Our home is a hive of activity and thus our walk is our escape time; with no diversions to pull us back to the mundane.

As aforementioned, I use this precious thirty minute amble to discuss anything of importance with my husband. It is much easier to bring up perhaps difficult or controversial subjects in a beautiful, relaxed setting. Plus- and this may sound strange- we don't have to stare at each other like we would have to do across a dinner table. This serene backdrop makes the whole process less intense. I sometimes look to the majestic, swaying oaks trees that line our path for inspiration or we can quite happily be silent and ponder what the other has just said whilst breathing in the sweet smell of damp bark and the subtle melody of early spring bluebells.

It is our time; our peaceful snippet of the day when we can be in the company of one another and nothing or no one else. Walking is our new much-loved pastime, our joint hobby, and our predominant source of exercise.

We were both once frequent gym patrons but since discovering we were to be parents I lost my appetite for a rigorous work out schedule preferring a brisk but moderate walk for half an hour each day. My husband has gladly accompanied me and we always arrive home with a stiff red glow on our faces from the invigorating crisp winter's air and a feeling of deep calm that a douse of nature affords one. Don't forget, exercise produces that happy chemical, endorphins, and when walking in the great outdoors you get the added bonus of fresh air too. Many of us absentmindedly hide away in the crevices of buildings all day and barely get to feel the brilliant sun on your face. A ten minute dose of sunshine is packed with vitamin D and can help you keep in optimum health.

My husband and I thoroughly enjoy this, our new exercise plan. And such a tranquil setting rarely fails to stir our romantic impulses; we often saunter, hand in hand, and just relish being in the pure presence of each other. It is sometimes as if nature conspires to transform us from a distant couple, wrapped in our own worries, to one united and alleviated of trivial woes. We return home rejuvenated and happy almost as if we have embarked on a dual meditation designed to bring our kindred spirits back together again.

Try it; I urge you. Not just you and your spouse but you and your troubled teen or difficult mother. It really does help to open the flood gates of communication and improve your relationship.

Too few of us really take the time for one another and then wonder why it is problems manifest. Communication is key and what better way to indulge in a heart to heart then amongst the company of God's greatest gift; nature?

Learn more about this author, Yvette Durham.
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