fit body
Walking and hiking balance the body through natural movement,
oxygenation of the cells and the use of our muscles as they were designed to be used.
~Dami Roelse
Individuals in the study that walked six hours a week lowered their risk of dying from cancer and cardiovascular and respi- ratory disease. It also shows that just two hours of walking per week could signifi - cantly improve health. “Walking and hiking balance the body
Hiking for Health and Happiness Into the Woods by Marlaina Donato
can foster unique benefi ts for both body and psyche. Hiking or walking outdoors not
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only promotes heart health, helping to balance both blood sugar and blood pressure, it increases hip bone density to help reduce fractures, according to research on postmenopausal women from the ongoing Nurses’ Health Study.
any of us equate fi tness with going to the gym, but a good hike in a natural environment
Navigating uneven terrain also neces- sitates lateral movement, which can strengthen core muscles and improve balance more significantly than working out on a treadmill or cycling.
Walk and Live Longer Any kind of walking can be a great boon to health. Recent research by the Ameri- can Cancer Society involving 140,000 older adults correlates a lower mortality rate with even short intervals of walking.
through natural movement, oxygenation of the cells and the use of our muscles as they were designed to be used,” says Dami Roelse, of Ashland, Oregon, author of Walking Gone Wild: How to Lose Your Age on the Trail. “Walking is in our genes; DNA molecules need to be stimulated regularly to express themselves, and walk- ing does just that. It also improves mood and cognition.” T e beauty of hiking is that it off ers
a tailored experience according to ability and personal interests. Day hikes, whether in the countryside or in urban botanical gardens or parks, are upliſt ing and ideal for any fi tness level. Longer or overnight treks with a
backpack of supplies off er healthy chal- lenges and opportunities for total immer- sion in nature. Bringing the kids on a hike off ers family fi tness time and a healthy way to unplug from technology and sneak in a fun learning experience about local fl ora and fauna.
April 22, 2019 32 Greater Oklahoma/OKC Edition
NaturalAwakeningsOKC.com
Trek for a Healthier Brain Exercise stimulates feel-good neurotrans- mitters like dopamine and serotonin, but getting a workout in a natural setting fortifi es the whole nervous system. A 2015 study published in Proceedings of the Na- tional Academy of Science led by Stanford University researchers shows that walking in nature for 90 minutes decreases activ- ity in the subgenual prefrontal cortex, the region of the brain most aff ected by depression. In contrast, individuals that
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