The Health Benefits of Walking

My annual August break from leading Herb Walks gives me a chance to relax and reflect. I’m still walking, though, as that is a foundation of my personal health plan. Walking is such a basic act of living — for those of us blessed to be able to walk — that we might forget what excellent exercise it is. In fact, the esteemed Dr. Andrew Weil, M.D., wrote a book entitled Walking: the Ultimate Exercise for Optimum Health. I did a quick Dogpile search online and found Walking 101, a website totally devoted to everything about walking. Their page on The Health Benefits of Walking is excellent and leads to many other resources on their site and beyond.  Another good resource I found is this short and to-the-point article by the Mayo Clinic staff called “Walking: Trim Your Waistline, Improve Your Health.” It includes sound guidelines for proper walking posture for maximum health benefits. Walk on!