Dear God seeker, God is interested in helping you have more energy, better health and great emotional health, so much so that He wants to invite you to walk with Him. Walking is a fun and gentle exercise that is free and it doesn’t hurt at all to do! Walking is a great way to stay fit and healthy. There are many benefits to walking. For many it is a better way of exercising than going to the gym.

Walking will improve your balance as well as your muscle strength. In the older generation, it can also improve bone density and thus help prevent osteoporosis. Other health benefits include:
1. Stronger and bigger lungs
2. A stronger heart
3. A lower density of bad cholesterol
4. Better moods
5. Better management of your weight
6. Reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes

The above benefits should make a lot of sense, and hopefully encourage you to walk more.

To get the most of your walking, start off slowly and walk every second day. Start with about twenty minutes and gradually build up to 45 minutes to an hour five times a week. One of the advantages of walking is that you can do it anywhere, from a treadmill in a gym to out in the park. Remember you are exercising, so don’t dawdle along. Walk at a brisk pace. Make sure you can talk with ease, because if you are breathing too hard, you are working too hard.

Concentrate on your posture while you are walking and breathe through each step that you take. Walk tall, but not stiffly. Tighten your abdominals and keep your head level with your eyes straight ahead. Your chin should be parallel to the ground. Strides should be long, but not over-stretched. Bend your arms at about 90 degrees and swing at waist level naturally with each step.

Start and end your walk with some gentle all over stretches. You don’t need to make the stretches too strenuous, as you are only walking, not sprinting.

If you want to walk for general health benefits, then you need to walk for at least thirty minutes a day at talking pace.

For cardiovascular fitness, you will need to walk three or four days a week at a fast pace. Your breathing should be hard, but you shouldn’t be gasping for air. If you want to lose weight, you will need to walk at least five days a week for 45 to 60 minutes briskly. You should hear yourself breathe, but you should still be able to talk.

Along with God walking with you, try and find yourself a friend to walk and talk with, then perhaps you can share stories with each other of how God is working in each of your lives! You will each probably learn something about God from the other when sharing “God” stories,  This will make your walking program easier to stick to. Arrange to meet at the same time and place a few times a week, and this will motivate you to walk, as you won’t want to let your walking partner down. God is ready to walk and talk with you, are you ready to walk and talk with Him?