Take a Different Walk

To continue our health and wellness theme for the month of March, we are going to spend this week exploring five fitness ideas. This week we’ve given ourselves grace while doing yoga at home, found motivation for strength training, made a plan for purchasing exercise equipment, and incorporated play as exercise. Today, we’re going on not just another walk.

About a month ago I hit a wall going on walks. I was just very over it as a form of exercise. And while I continued to go on walks because my dog needs the exercise too, I wasn’t getting joy from it. But one day, my person asked if he could come along. And then he came along the day after. And the day after that. And it completely changed my walking experience to have my person by my side, walking with me. I noticed different things about this same route that I had been on a million times. We always stop and say hello to the dogs whose names we know and notice people’s porches together. It made a repeated experience completely different.

So if you’ve been going on walks this year for whatever reason, introduce change to it before you burnout. Either try a different route every day for a week and see what’s new. Listen to podcasts instead of music or vice versa. Take a coffee with you. Count the number of robins that are out for spring. Become an expert photographer of very tiny things. But whatever you do, don’t do the same thing over and over again.

The shifting of seasons lends itself nicely to rejuvenating our routines. Maybe even taking a walk before work instead of after can help you notice how the seasons have impacted the location of the sun or the light in the trees. Maybe you craft a poem about this as you walk as a form of mindfulness. Maybe you try a supportive pair of sandals instead of the closed toed shoes that have kept you warm. 

We crave routine, but we also thrive when routine meets variety. Be intentional about preventing burnout from the healthy choices by mixing it up a little today. 

Would you share a picture of your walk today on Instagram and tag the show @nowthatimnotyourteacher? If you haven’t left a rating and review on your podcasting app of choice, I would really appreciate your taking two minutes to do so. I’ll be back next week with something a little different! Next week I’ll be answering five questions I’ve received during the first quarter of Now That I’m Not Your Teacher, and I’m very excited to get to share listener-driven episodes! I’m always happy to connect about your questions--you can either DM me on Instagram or send me an email at nowthatimnotyourteacher@gmail.com. I hope you find some rest this weekend, and I’ll see you back here Monday!