Think About a Short Walk

Have I got an exercise plan for you! No health club, no barbells, no cute leotards. No fancy equipment. And just 10 minutes. No sweat.

It started with office workers who ran from one meeting to the next, or at-home telecommuters with days full of Zoom sessions. For people with neither the time nor the inclination to commit to a gym, the 10-minute “thinking walk” was a good idea.

Psychologist Jenny Martin says 10 minutes turned out to be far enough to make a discernible difference in her life, as it did in the lives of sedentary college students who took part in a research study into the effects of “mindful walking.”

Students in a University of San Francisco study who walked a prescribed 0.85-mile route every day improved their mental health and stress/anxiety levels.

For Martin, who had just minutes in-between her online clients, this prompted a 10-minute walk as a physical and mental reset throughout her busy workday. “Ten minutes turned out to be a surprisingly honest unit of time,” she said. “It’s long enough to let a thought fully form, and short enough that there’s no excuse to not go.”

These walks aren’t for exercise, but for unplugging your mind (and your cellphone) to process thoughts, solve problems and spark creativity, Martin said. “I realized over time that 10 minutes can do wonders if you use it with intentionality and with purpose,” she said. “Those minutes are precious, and they’re powerful.”