How To Help The Brain By Going

One of these experts is neurologist Jose Angel Obeso, director of The Centro Integral en Neurociencias (Comprehensive Neuroscience Center) in Madrid, Spain. His daily work in the hospital and contact with people suffering from depression, has shown him how good therapy it is to walk for 1 hour every day – and preferably in a natural environment.

As you already know, depression, or even long periods of stress and anxiety, can cause the main functions of the brain to not function optimally, such as memory, comprehension, creativity and the like. If we go every single day, these features will improve.

Thus, you have no excuses. After reading this article, we are sure you will start with this effective and therapeutic remedy: go for a walk!

“The automated brain” and unhappiness

There is also another very interesting aspect that is important to keep in mind. There are habits that, without us really thinking about it, make our brain “automated” and therefore stressed. Do not forget this:

• The brain’s biggest enemy is routine. Doing the same thing every day causes us to go into a kind of depression and an inevitable discouragement. Little by little, our brain will work more slowly. Our attention is not the same as before, since we really no longer have any impulses to focus on. We may experience some memory loss since few things are more interesting to us. Due to low motivation, memory becomes less active.

• Routines reduce our enthusiasm, and discouragement affects the brain as a consequence, due to fewer nerve connections.
• Little by little, the brain begins to “go on autopilot”. There are no more moments to enjoy or to be creative, and the brain can be governed by established guidelines, just like a programmed PC. This is a major risk to both our emotional health and physical health.

According to Dr. Jose Angel Obeso, it is more common for the brain to “go on autopilot” in larger cities. This can apply to individuals who typically spend time dealing with their emotional needs, and who live in large cities with a lot of pollution and high stress levels.

To walk – a feeling of freedom

“One who walks has no obligations, only the simple joy of freeing himself step by step.” According to Dr. Jose Angel Obeso, you do not notice the benefits on the first day, but after at least a week where walking has become a habit. This is when we begin to notice the therapeutic results:

• When you walk, your brain does not have to worry about anything else. It is easy to walk, everyone can do it and due to the extra dose of oxygen and the fresh air you feel better. A stimulation of the frontal lobe is then initiated, which is associated with creativity and state of mind. If you add the natural release of endorphins, the magic begins to happen. The brain will feel more euphoric and optimistic.

• An improved state of mind gives increased creativity. The hormone cortisol, which is secreted during stressful periods, disappears, and these walls that make us negative are broken down. It makes us see things differently. We become more relaxed, more enthusiastic and more satisfied.

Take a walk every day

• As humans, we are used to moving around in small areas : at home, at work, restaurants we visit, shops. All of these have limited space and are always full of other people – these are places that we know often make us more tense. Thus, a walk in an open, natural area will give a wonderful feeling of freedom.
• According to Dr. Jose Angel Obeso, we should first seek out nature. It’s almost like returning to our mother’s womb, to our infancy. It is not a spiritual act, but rather an organic necessity. If we walk in the city, we continue to breathe in the polluted air. It is better for our lungs with pure oxygen, and it is also necessary for us with new environments and new stimuli that can enrich our brain.

With this article, we hope once again that you will be motivated to walk every day, and at least half an hour. Walk in the park, on the mountain, on the beach. You will notice in a few weeks that both your physical and emotional health improve. Walking is without a doubt much better than painkillers or certain vitamins!