4 reasons walking off the beaten path is great for health

Lately I am trying to communicate simple ways one can integrate healthy movement and awareness into their day. It seems when I break things down into little tidbits which are easily applicable, it is much more effective than a slew of anatomical information.
The next tidbit (I like that word “tidbit”)
Today I went on a meandering ramble through my neighborhood, to a park and then up a hill to my mom’s house. As I walked, I tried to keep finding the little bits of grass, wood chips, dirt and rock to walk on instead of the pavement. I have always tried try to do this for health reasons and it occurred to me that this practice of changing the surfaces one walks on is an easy and significant thing to do. Here’s why: 

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1. The feet help sense and coordinate for everything in your body, but the feet are ending up asleep and it’s time to wake them up!
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The foot is an incredible, complex and rich system of muscles, nerves, joints and connective tissue. There are some tiny muscles in the feet which have one of the highest ratios of nerve to muscle fiber in the entire body. Let me break that down: The calf muscle has about 1 motor nerve for every 1600 muscle fibers. The lumbricles and interossei (these tiny super-star muscles in the feet) have a ratio of about 1 motor nerve for every 4 muscle fibers. This makes the tiny foot muscles highly sensitive and highly communicative. This type of network gives the feet the ability to be more acutely sensitive than almost everything else in the body (aside from the lips, hands, and base of the skull which are highly sensitive in the same way the foot is). THAT IS A BIG DEAL.
 
The problem? When your feet spend most of their time in shoes, and then on flat, solid ground, they tend to go to sleep. These little muscles and the many joints which would provide mobility, information and coordination for the rest of the body don’t need to be so sensitive when they are in such a rigid and consistent environment as shoes and flat floors/pavement. To restate because this is so important: your tiny foot muscles and many joints in the feet can provide a ton of information to the rest of your body and when the foot does that, it helps coordinate and refine EVERYTHING.

The solution? Change your shoes and/or walk on a variety of surfaces. I like my minimal shoes a lot partially because I have always been a barefoot girl. I think minimal shoes are great, but one needs to take care when changing their footwear and if you are considering a change in footwear, check out the book Whole Body Barefoot for logical suggestions for gradually transiting to minimal shoes. This book will explain why minimal shoes are great for your health, what to look for in a shoe and how to slowly transition. If you don’t want to do that or just want a nice solution to go with the shoes you already have, try to vary your walking and standing surface! Today I found: river rocks, short grass, tall grass, bark mulch, wood chips, gravel, sand and of course pavement all on an hour-long walk. Alleys are great for finding new surfaces! 

2. Your hips and balance will thank you for finding a new surface!

As I walked, I could feel that it was much more challenging to walk on the grass next to the pavement rather than on the pavement. All of the slight changes in terrain which are natural in grass and dirt were giving my feet tons of stimulation but were also causing my hip muscles to work harder yet with more finesse and my balance to be a little challenged with each step. I felt my glutes working a ton more in the grass than on pavement and the glute muscles are some of the most important for balance, strength, spine health and alignment! 

3. The health of your brain relies on variety too! 

Many people are starting to understand that their brain needs variety in order to stay healthy. Learning new things, trying new things and activities like reading help keep the brain “strong” and “young”. When you walk on a new surface, all of those tiny muscles and foot nerves will become more awake, and so will your brain. Taking a new route, walking on a new surface and exploring alley-ways will strengthen your brain while you strengthen your body! 

4. ​Walking on new surfaces will challenge your awareness!

When we walk on pavement and flat surfaces, it is really easy to just check-out and stay in our normal mental spirals. When you walk on a new surface, you will have to pay attention more than normal. This will cause you to be in a more calm and focused state which is good for your brain, psyche and physical health. When you are more calm, your muscles work better and your body is more coordinated. The effects of being more calm, coordinated and attentive will carry-over into the rest of your day even when you are on flat surfaces again. 

5. BONUS! Walking off of the beaten path often feels like a light foot massage and that is great too!

So, even if you only do it a little bit today, I urge you to seek out patches of varied ground on which to walk, take the less-beaten path and explore new places to put your feet. If you take your shoes off and try it, your feet and body will reap even more benefits. If your feet aren’t used to being bare, start slowly, do a little bit at a time and remember to enjoy your body today!