(© Reader’s Digest/Best Health. Originally published in Best Health, September 2008).

Focus while you wander to benefit body and spirit

Researchers have long touted the physical benefits of walking, such as increased oxygen intake, revved-up circulation, a healthier heart and calorie burning. But today many fitness professionals use walking time to shed stress and enhance calm energy. "Mindful walking means that you’re living in the moment," says Dr Laura Farres, a Vancouver sport psychologist. "You’re connected with your environment and also with your body." So instead of pounding the pavement with your head down and earphones in, you’re enjoying active meditation, time to think and reenergize. Here’s how.

Say "om" (or whatever works for you) "Some people find it helpful to replace the’mental swirl’ with a repeated phrase," says Carolyn Scott Kortge, author of The Spirited Walker: Fitness Walking for Clarity, Balance and Spiritual Connection (HarperCollins). A dedicated walker for many years, Scott Kortge found that her walks were especially helpful at zapping anxiety when she was being treated for breast cancer. She suggests using a four-beat phrase like "moving, breathing," "I am healthy, I am healing," or "God is with me." Choose words that are meaningful to you.

Be deliberate "Think about every aspect of your foot movement: lifting the heel, the middle of your foot and then the toes," says JoAnne Hunter, a nurse practitioner at Toronto Western Hospital who teaches walking meditation, where participants walk very slowing, inhaling with one step and exhaling with the next. "This helps you think about your connection to the earth," she adds. "You feel peaceful and in touch with your body, which reduces stress."

Walk in circles Labyrinths are large circular patterns, often painted on the floor or defined with rocks or plants on the ground, which have been used in various cultures—from ancient India to medieval Europe to North American Hopi Indians- for thousands of years to help focus the mind and enhance the spirit. The exact cause and effect isn’t well researched, but it’s thought that the spiral pattern, which is repeated in nature (think of a seashell, for example), and walking towards a central goal, both play a role. To find one of the 147 labyrinths in Canada (often at churches or public parks and gardens), go to www.labyrinthsociety.org and click on "world-wide labyrinth locator." Repeating a short loop on a nature trail may help you achieve the same calming effect, too.

Breathe big "Try visualizing energy with your breathing: you’re breathing in fresh air, a new day, a different attitude; you’re breathing out everything that’s stale, old and tired," says Scott Kortge. "When I’m faced with a problem, I picture crystal clear air coming into my body, and wild, twisted shapes of confusion being exhaled out." Or, think of a colour that represents peace and acceptance to you. Imagine that colour coming into your body when you inhale, and another colour that represents anger or fatigue being exhaled.