Taking a walk may be a good opportunity to mentally review your to-do list, but using the time to pay more attention to your breathing and environment instead can boost your well-being, according to researchers. The researchers found that while students reported that they were less stressed while standing and moving, they received an even greater benefit when they reported that they were also more mindful.
The researchers recruited 158 students for the study. For two weeks, a special mobile phone app asked participants to randomly answer questions about their current activity and mood eight times a day. The prompts included questions about where the participant was, whether they were moving, and whether they were stressed or anxious, as well as questions designed to assess mindfulness.
After analyzing the data, the researchers found that when participants were more aware or active than usual, they showed a reduced negative effect. They also found a possible synergistic effect when people were both mindful and active.
To better investigate the causal role of mindfulness on lower negative states of being, the researchers completed a second study in which older adults who participated in an outdoor mindfulness activity reported on their feelings of stress, anxiety and depression. It was found that conscious walking was associated with lower levels of these feelings.
