This simple exercise has completely transformed my mental health.
As a child, the importance of exercise was engraved in my mind like a laser into a metal charm – the kind I will always keep secret in the pocket of my jean shorts, stuffed in the bottom of my drawer only to occasionally find when spring cleaning. Some of my first memories are bouncing up and down in a stroller as I hear my mom’s footsteps pushing me around Lake Bde Maka Ska. I never questioned why exercise was deemed this “thing” I had to do, because it usually never felt so forced. I ran around outside with my best friend building forts out of the fallen sticks in the woods pretending not to know what electricity was or playing rec soccer as my dad coached and my mom cheered, despite patronizing looks from the other team, due to her loud voice that carried across the field.
This all began to change as I got older. I began to compare my mirror reflection with others. Toxic thought patterns about appearance kept me up at night. Moving my body, outside of high school sports, became a chore that had an even higher reward: to be skinnier. But even with that prize, nothing seemed to fulfill that want of a perfect body.
As my mental health declined, I discovered walks. I began going for long walks in a park, on a trail, by the lake, or even trekking through snow. This is all not to say that I think mental illnesses can be cured or fixed just by some simple exercise, as I wholeheartedly believe in medication, therapy, and/or alternative treatments – but none of which I wanted to do. As trivial as they seemed, walks had the most profound impact on me.
This effect became most clear during the Covid pandemic. Gyms were closed and I was beyond tired of the feeling that my mom was watching me as I tried to do “Chloe Ting ab workout” in my basement, which realistically just made me feel worse about how I looked. Ultimately, I decided I should probably get off TikTok and go outside. This led me to going for a simple, innocent walk around my neighborhood, which turned into four miles with the mindset that I didn’t ever want to walk back home. As my melodramatic attitude wore off and my feet got tired, I realized that I had felt better than I ever had in the past year.
This was not the first walk I had ever gone on. But it was the first one with a different intention. I wasn’t exercising to the point of pure exhaustion or with the mindset that I will get skinnier by doing so. I just put my headphones on and aimlessly moved my legs, following wherever the route took me.
This isn’t just my own experience with exercise, but actual chemical reactions taking place. Exercise induces blood circulation to the brain and affects the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. The HPA axis controls the reaction to stress, anxiety, motivation, and mood. Exercise also increases endorphin levels, body temperature, neurotransmitter production that have psychological effects such as managing fear, pleasure and happiness. And if you don’t believe in science, believe me.
When I walk, the solitude grounds my thinking and allows me to focus on what I am truly feeling in that moment. This helps grasp what emotions I can work through, without it affecting outer vessels in my life. I can feel the sun curing my soul as it warms my skin. The leaves falling, birds chirping, and snow melting is proof that no matter what my troubles are, the Earth keeps turning and life goes on.
My weekends now consist of time set aside so I can go for a walk. Sometimes my friends come along, and we rant about our current superficial issues that set the real problems into perspective. We grow closer and I learn the importance of preserving my peace with the people around me. Everyone has their days, and my mental health is not perfect, especially during the cooler months that seem to lag on in Minnesota. But with each step, I have a better understanding of what I can do to take care of myself.
Trails to visit in Minnesota during your weekend!:
- Lake Bde Maka Ska
- Lake of the Isles
- Lake Harriet
- Lone Lake Park
- Stone Arch Bridge
- Superior Hiking Trail
- Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Trail
- St. Croix River Crossing Loop Trail