"...have space to spread my mind out in." ~Virginia Woolf
When we want answers we head to Google. We sit at computers, sit on the train, sit in the office, sit while we wait for phones to charge and pages to load. No matter what we find, we also find strained eyes, stiff necks, tight backs and sometimes confusion. Is there no other way?
Here's what happens when you walk (and doesn't when you sit); blood pumps freely, bringing fresh oxygen to invigorate muscles and make new connections in the brain. Communication between these sprouting neurons is facilitated. The hippocampus, the "seat of memory", grows in size. You're more aware, more clear, more able to focus in the softest way possible. You being seeing relationships between aspects and elements of life you'd not considered before.
Stimulation may be fragmented on a crowded, noisy street, but you're still likely to gain insight into a problem more easily than you do while sitting. Take notice when you're in nature how with fewer distractions, the mind drifts freely, in and out of topics. Ideas show up as if by magic, formed in imagination, unique because they're yours - not Google scripted.
When its facts you need - an address, the name of a restaurant, directions - nothing beats technology for a quick, reliable search. But, if you're trying to decide when you should retire, how to talk to your child, spend time with a dream, plan a new kitchen, whether or not to get a pet - try walking first - then search.
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