★★★ July Challenge ★★★
For this challenge, try out (or continue going on) early morning walks, and report back to us how it went. A sunrise picture might also be nice!
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As mentioned in another post, since last month’s announcement of the passing of Michael Mosley, I’ve been rereading his Just One Thing. And there is a chapter about early morning walks, which I thought was perfect for our monthly challenge whilst commemorating a personality that did so much for the UK’s health.
Introducing early morning walks to your routine is life-changing, he says. Surprisingly so. It can improve your sleep, boost your mood, increase your fitness, and cut the risk of heart disease and diabetes. Ideally, those morning walks should be within 2 hours of waking.
One big reason for all the benefits is due to the natural light exposure, a magic ingredient to positively affect your health. Light levels are at least 10 times brighter than indoors, and that light affects your Melatonin levels, also named “the hormone of darkness”. The rise in this hormone regulates your sleepiness at night, so you want to minimise it in the mornings, and the sun light levels do just that! Additionally sunlight triggers rise in Serotonin levels, a natural mood booster! Aren’t our bodies amazing??
The light hitting your eyes also resets your internal clock and regulates hunger, body temperature and other body functions. And resetting that body clock in the morning, via a morning walk, ensures you are ready for bed at the end of the day. It improves your sleep and waking patterns, and sleep is so important for your mental health, isn’t it?
Those who regularly walk in the morning tend to have fewer problems falling asleep and fewer sleep disturbances. Less depression and less stress!
He suggested to aim for a 30-minute walk to get the full benefits. And in winter or on dark days, if walking us not an option he suggests using a SAD lamp (seasonal affective disorder lamp with at least 10k lux. For comparison, a SAD lamp has 10,000 lux, a normal lamp only 200 lux)
But a morning walk is so much better! Besides the light benefits, it also works magic on your joints, muscles and ligaments, burns calories and lifts your energy levels. It makes you fitter! Brisk walkers have a 21% lower risk from heart dresses than those who are sedentary.
And if you want to supercharge the benefits? Then just speed up. He suggests using music to speed up and gives a playlist his book.
And of course I just had to put it into Spotify to try it out. So if you have Spotify on your phone, and a set of headphones, feel free to head to open.spotify.com/playlist/3... and then you can walk to music that Mosley would have walked to!
And if 30 minutes is too long, break it into three 10-minute chunks, giving your metabolism several boosts!
And doesn't that slit perfectly into our Active10 program?
★★★ July Challenge ★★★
So for this challenge, try out (or continue going on) that early morning walk, and report back to us how it went. A picture of a sunrise or early morning fog might also be very nice!
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So happy walking, everyone!
Help your fellow walkers to stay motivated by posting pics or thoughts from some of your walking experiences!
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Just our usual links to our Active10 App, which works perfectly for his challenge:
★ For those new to walking or those who like to track and be rewarded for their walking, you can combine the above challenges with the use of the NHS Active 10 App. The Active 10 app anonymously records every minute of walking you do. And you can just pop your phone in your pocket and it still tracks every mile. I have it on my phone with constant tracking on, although you will have to open it every few days to keep it tracking. Details at: nhs.uk/better-health/get-ac...
And if you are new to walking, have a look at the following guidance or plans:
★ NHS Guidance on Walking for Health, with plenty of ideas for getting those steps in and link to the Active10 app nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/r...
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