Friday 31 May 2013

What Are the Benefits of Walking Early in the Morning?

Walking as a form of exercise includes a number of benefits, both mental and physical. Walking early in the morning can be useful for some people because they can do their exercise prior to the demands of the day make them wish to skip doing it. It offers time for you to plan your day in a calm setting while oxygenating the body. For some, it is a time of feeling gratitude during the day ahead as they use walking like a meditative experience.

Benefits of Walking

A low-impact exercise of moderate intensity, walking can get a lean body and it is easy to do for most of us. According to MayoClinic.com, it can decrease your blood pressure, reduce your risk of or help manage diabetes type 2, manage your weight, improve your mood, lower bad cholesterol while raising good cholesterol, and make you stay fit. It is important to start slowly, warm-up and use proper walking shoes. Stretching parts of your muscles beforehand can help you avoid injury.

Air and Oxygen

One benefit of walking early in the day is contact with the air in the environment, the freshest at this time. There are few cars around to pollute the environment with exhaust fumes. The environment feels cleaner after the activity of humans and cars has died down throughout the night. By moving your joints, you are able to increase your blood circulation, increasing the rate where you bring new oxygen all the while removing carbon dioxide from your cells.

Relaxation

Walking energizes you, yet still time stills your mind helping you relax. As you relax, how you perceive the world changes, and also the usual mental clutter that always fills your mind recedes into the background. An all natural mood elevator, walking can alleviate mild depression and promote happiness. It releases muscle tension while simultaneously decreasing stress hormones and increasing beta-endorphins, that are relaxation hormones that elevate mood and make up a sense of well-being. Walking early in the morning can "kick-start" your entire day into a more relaxed way of being in addition to help you sleep better that night.

Meditation

If you feel of meditation as only happening in a quiet, still setting with candles and incense, reconsider. During an early morning walk once the air is cool and also the birds are starting their melodic songs, you are able to enter a state of walking meditation while you breathe, step, breathe, step, and concentrate as you become one with your walk. The mixture of the steady rhythm of walking combined with rhythm of your own breathing can continue to your mind, open you up to messages out of your subconscious mind, and refresh your spirit.

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