Transcriber: Bushra altoughar Reviewer: Lucas Kaimaras
How many steps do you walk every day?
Do you take 10,000 steps, which experts recommend?
Based on the survey I conducted, if you’re a nice high school student,
you have walked a daily average of 2,000 to 6,000 steps last month,
which is well below the 10,000 step mark.
But do we even need the cold hard statistics
to know that we’re not walking as nearly as we should?
When I'm walking around my neighborhood, Natura,
I fail to see many people walking,
compared to the number of people on their golf carts.
Many people nowadays don’t consider walking as exercise element,
but only as a means of transportation to get from point A to point B,
and so riding a car is much easier.
But walking truly is the most simple and beneficial form of exercise.
I walk around my neighborhood Natura every day.
Last month, I walked a daily average of 12,000 steps.
I walk a lot and I love walking.
I make walking a habit and today I want to make it yours too.
My journey with walking started two years ago
when I got surgery in my lower abdomen
and I had to actually set aside 30 minutes every day,
and walk consciously and purposefully for recovery.
Now, we all know that on the physical level,
the benefits of walking are enormous.
It strengthens the heart,
it boosts the immune system,
it maintains strong bones,
and so, slowly but surely,
I was able to regain my physical strength and move again without any pain.
But one thing happened very quickly.
It was that I felt so much better in my head and in my spirits
than I had ever felt.
So I had two questions.
First:
How could my stress and fatigue
from missing a whole month of school assignments for surgery
be gone just 10 minutes into my walk?
The second question I had was
how could I go home after my walks feeling motivated and inspired
to complete the pile of homework I had in front of me?
What was going on?
So I started thinking to research more about walking
and eventually I discovered the hidden powerful benefits
that walking has on the human mind.
To answer my first question,
many scientific studies from across the world
have proven that walking
can take the stress hormones that start to build up in your body
and in turn produce endorphins,
which are chemicals in the body that elevate your mood.
So by walking every day,
your body just has a natural way of reducing stress.
Walking can also reduce symptoms of fatigue.
This is great news to many of you in the audience,
because when I surveyed 70 people in my community of all ages,
95% of them said
they have been experiencing some sort of fatigue or tiredness.
Now, you might be wondering,
“Rina, won’t walking make us even more worn out.”
Surprisingly, no.
A study conducted by Patrick O'Connor,
who is co-director at the University of Georgia Exercise Lab,
found out that people who complain of fatigue
can actually increase their energy levels by 20%
and decrease their fatigue by 65%
just by taking an easy leisurely walk.
So as your energy level goes up by walking,
your mental sharpness goes up as well.
So it makes sense
that walking can also lead to improved creativity and memory.
This answers my second question
of why I was able to go home after my walks,
feeling motivated and inspired to complete the pile of work I had in front of me
and why I was seeing improvement in my grades.
In a study conducted by psychologists at Stanford University,
two groups were asked to perform the task
of coming up with other creative ways to use everyday objects.
And results found that the group who performed the task after walking,
scored twice as well on the creativity index
than the group who performed the task solely while sitting without any walking.
In fact, some of history's great thinkers,
from Aristotle to Charles Darwin, to Steve Jobs,
all came up with their best creative ideas on a walk.
I also came up with this TED Talk topic on a walk,
and here I am sharing all my creative ideas with you all.
Additionally, Vijay Varma,
a mental health researcher at Johns Hopkins University,
says that walking can increase blood flow to the brain,
which is linked to higher cognitive function and therefore improved memory.
He also says that walking can increase the size of the hippocampus,
which is a critical thinking area of the brain,
where learning occurs and memory takes place.
So, by making walking a daily habit,
we can maximize the information that we absorb
and store more knowledge as long term memory
instead of just short term memory.
So, hearing all this,
raise your hand if you think walking is a good thing for you.
Yes, but how many of you you’re also thinking, “I have no time”?
Well, I'm going to take away that excuse right now
because your walks don't have to be long.
Start with a 10 minute walk around your neighborhood at your own comfortable pace.
Daytime walking is great,
but a walk at night before bed is also a great way to wind down.
You might find that you can sleep better,
and then you can increase your walks by 10 minutes
every other day.
Walk with your friends, your family or your dog to make it more fun.
Listen to music, a podcast or an audiobook,
so -
You have an opportunity to see some major positive changes,
not just in your body,
but in your mind and in your spirit as well.
And all you have to do is put one foot in front of the other.
It’s that simple.
Thank you.
(Applause)