Since the start of the pandemic back in 2020, daily walks were something I tried to incorporate pretty regularly. Initially, they were the only escape from my house when we were all trapped together but when working from home became permanent, so did my walks. Recently, my IG friend Ieasha talked about starting a 30 day challenge to walk at least 2 miles a day. As soon as I heard it, I was on board.

While walking regularly has been part of my exercise routine, sticking to it daily was not something I had committed to, especially on days like Sunday when I normally took a break from exercise of any kind. But moving into 2024, I set a goal to move my body in some way every single day. I incorporated some strength training workouts a couple times a week but generally didn’t walk on those days either.

The way my mindset works is that once I set a goal to do something, I pretty much stick to it. I had done a challenge earlier in the year to hit 10K steps a day for a week and loved it but this one sounded much more manageable across 30 days. Walking 2 miles takes about 30 minutes a day which is the minimum I set for myself. I quickly found myself alternating between longer walks and hitting the daily requirement but what I gained in the 30 days far exceeded my initial goals.

First, being intentional with each day and ensuring there is time allocated to walk helped me prioritize myself and ensure a break between my work day and shifting into evening routines with dinner and housework. It’s time I took for myself to really unwind and decompress but also just reflect either on the day or life in that moment. It was also time with God to just pray and be thankful for the ability to move my body each day.

Mentally, there were some additional benefits that included individual reflection time but also some great walks with my husband and daughter in addition to my weekly therapy walks with my girlfriend. We don’t realize sometimes how much just getting away from life’s distractions and focusing on conversation can help not only our own mental health but strengthen our relationships as well.

Physically, I notice the change in that my energy levels are higher for the most part, I am sleeping better and just generally feel better about myself and my health. I’m not saying I am running any marathons soon or winning any athletic contests but for me, this has been the perfect balance with my strength training workouts.

Being outside every single day has made me stop and take notice of things I wouldn’t normally. With the weather all over the place, I have appreciated the sunny days even more and have watched the flowers bloom in greater appreciation than I would have. I have run into neighbors more often and had the change to catch up or just be friendly. Most importantly, get out of my house. With working from home and my kids being independent, there are days I can go without leaving and it truly does start to take a mental toll.

Finally, the support and encouragement that joining a challenge like this brings is reason enough to do it. Seeing others getting in their walks through bad weather, not feeling up to it or just not in the mood, served as the encouragement I needed to get through those same hard days. They say there is something about accountability that is great motivation but what I loved about this group and Ieasha leading it is that there was always grace given if we fell off or didn’t hit the mark we wanted to that day. More than anything, I value both that support and reminder that we don’t have to be perfect to meet the challenge. I fully intend to keep up these daily walks as much as possible and I hope you will challenge yourself to jump in too.