Keep on walking

It’s the best thing for your health – both physical and mental

 

It’s something that our parents and grandparents knew intuitively. That it is a good idea to go for a little stroll after we eat lunch or dinner. To their way of thinking, this was the best way of helping the body digest the food, and in the bargain, keep your weight down.

 

Well, guess what? They were completely right on that one. According to a recent study (as published in the New York Times) taking a walk within 60 to 90 minutes of eating helps in keeping your sugar levels down. What’s more, the walk could be as short as five minutes for you to benefit. Just the act of walking is enough for your body to better metabolize the sugar produced after a meal. And the lower your sugar levels, the healthier you will be. 

 

That’s the thing about walks. They are excellent for your health – both physical and mental. And they involve minimal effort and very little (if any) expense. So, as a daily exercise, you could hardly do better.

 

As regular readers of this column will know, I am a sucker for walks in scenic gardens. Given that we spend most of our days in a concrete jungle, there is something so uplifting about spending an hour or so in a green oasis, just taking in the splendour of the trees and the beauty of flowering bushes. In Delhi, my favourite spots are Lodi Gardens and Sunder Nursery, where I can momentarily forget about the bustling traffic outside and just revel in the music of birdsong. 

 

This is not just the time when I can relax and switch off entirely – though I do that too sometimes. For me, this is the best time to think. If I am struggling to come up with a new idea for this column, I head out for a walk. If I am stumped by a particular plot point in the new spy novel I am working on, I put on my sneakers and go walking.

 

There is something about the act of getting my feet moving that gets the wheels of my brain turning over as well. With every step, as I mull over ideas in my head, my brain comes closer and closer to absolute clarity. And things that I had been jostling with all day suddenly become crystal clear to me. No surprises then, that some of my most successful writing happens just after a walk. In fact, most of the twists and turns of my last novel, Madam Prime Minister, clicked into place when I was walking.

 

Of late, my walks are where I teach myself a new skill. Having tried very hard to get into audio books and failed – sadly, my attention kept wandering until I, quite literally, lost the plot – I am now attempting to teach my brain to concentrate by listening to podcasts which are not quite so demanding in terms of plot and characterization. My mind still wanders, distracted by a beautiful butterfly or a dancing peacock, but I think I am getting good enough to attempt another audio book one of these days. 

 

Walks are also the best time for talks. During the Covid lockdown, my husband and I developed a daily ritual. Every evening we would set out for a walk in the park, and then find a nice shady bench to sit down and have a chat about something as mundane as to what to get for dinner or something as serious as our fears about life after Covid. As a way to combat those lockdown blues, it wasn’t too bad.

 

Now that the parks are full once again, walks have become my time to indulge in another of my favourite activities: people watching. Those lovers snuggling behind a bush, fondly thinking they are invisible to all passersby. The young mothers running behind their children as they run off into the undergrowth. Extended families sitting around elaborate picnic hampers. Giggly girls all dressed in their best flirting shyly with the boys who accompany them. Grandparents walking slowly with a cane in one hand while a grandchild clasps the other. There’s nothing quite like a walk in the park to give you a glimpse of humanity, in all its many manifestations. 

 

And your sugar levels will thank you for it as well. So, what’s stopping you?