What Is Therapeutic Walking?

In this episode, we explore the topic of therapeutic walking and its impact on client health and well-being.

Want to learn more about what our podcast program covers? Visit our website: https://pathwayscounselingcenter.org/podcast/

Contact Information:
Jerrodb@pathwayscounselingcenter.org

Disclaimer:
The information provided in this podcast is for educational purposes only and is not intended as medical or mental health advice. The content discussed should not replace professional judgment, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider regarding any medical or psychological concerns. The views expressed by our hosts and guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of any affiliated organizations.

Credits:
Executive Producer, Host: Jerrod Brown, Ph.D., M.A., M.S., M.S., M.S., M.S., M.S.

Producer, Technical Director: Megan Eichten, AAS, CPT, CES (NASM)

Audio Engineer, Sound Designer: Jen Carter, BS

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Welcome to the Psychogastroentermologist, the show where we explore the fascinating intersection of the brain-cut connection through a multidisciplinary lens informed by psychology, neuroscience, and gastroentermology, better known as psychogastroentermology. Our mission is to delve into the gut brain access and uncover how this powerful connection influences mental, physical, and overall well-being. Whether you work in behavioral health, health care, the criminal justice system, or health and wellness coaching, this podcast offers insights to inform and inspire your work. Join us as we break down complex concepts, share evidence-based perspectives, and discuss emerging trends in this rapidly evolving field. The information provided in this podcast is for educational purposes only and is not intended as medical or mental health advice. The content discussion should not replace professional judgment, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider regarding any medical or psychological concerns. The views expressed by our hosts and our guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of any affiliated organizations.

SPEAKER_01 1:03

Well, hey, everybody. Hope you're doing well. Welcome back to episode eight. In this episode, we're going to talk about therapeutic walking and why we might want to consider that if you're working in helping professions. So my name's Jared Brown. I'm the host of the Psychogastroent Podcast Program hosted by Pathways Counseling Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. Here's my email address. Reach out if you have any questions. We always welcome feedback, ideas for future episodes. If you're new to our program, here's a copy of my brief professional biography. I am a professor, trainer, researcher, and consultant. And today we're talking about therapeutic walking. One of my graduate certificates is in exercise prescription, and one of my master's degrees is in applied clinical nutrition. In both those programs, we did talk about exercise at various times. And I love the field of exercise science. I love the field of nutrition. I do believe those two fields of study complement the field of psychogastro entonology very well. And hopefully you walk away with some nuggets that might be able to be helpful for you and the work you do with your clients. These are my main areas of focus in terms of the work I do and trainings, consultation in this podcast program where we're going to be talking about many, many of these topics here. So, our agenda today, pretty straightforward. I'm going to give you a broad overview of walking. We all know what walking is, but hopefully you'll learn something new today that maybe you haven't thought of and why walking is so important for brain and body health and gut health. Part two today during our talk, I'll talk about some basic things we'd want to consider looking at it through a clinical lens. We'll have a section today, too, about how you could implement these kind of things and then wrap it up with some tips, strategies, solutions, interventions. So walking again, we we know what walking is, but let's define it. Let's talk about some different forms of walking. Why, why do we want to care about this topic? Well, walking is one of the many, many topics that is studied under the umbrella of exercise science. Exercise science is a big umbrella term. There's all kinds of subtopics that fall under this umbrella. And my graduate certificate in exercise prescription is one of the topics that does fall under this umbrella. Exercise science is a multidisciplinary field, it encompasses research from all kinds of other fields: psychology, nutrition, physical therapy, human anatomy, biomechanics. The list goes on and on and on. And we all know what exercise is, but walking is only one form of exercise. There's many ways in which people can get exercise, certain cooking activities, doing chores around the house. People may do yoga. Some people may love to dance or run or jump rope. There's a multitude of ways in which people can get moving and get physical activity and exercise into their daily life. Obviously, if you're going to implement some of these things into the work you do, make sure you have the proper training credentials. Make sure the client has met with their healthcare provider and has gotten the green light and really taking into account mobility issues. Maybe there's some co-occurring medical health issues that need to be considered before implementing these kinds of things we're talking about today. So walking here is one definition of many. And at the bottom of my slides, you'll find my full citation. So basically, this is one definition moving along a surface on foot, step by step, so that one foot is always on the ground, such as when strolling, sauning, walking forward, backwards, or sideways. I like this quote here, and it's a good reminder why we want to consider walking. And there are some articles out there that call walking almost a near-perfect exercise. Most people can walk. Obviously, there are certain individuals that might not be able to walk because of limitations and things of that nature. But walking is one of the safest and most effective kind of exercises out there. What does the research literature say about walking in general? And this comes from many, many studies. And you're going to find articles that say it's simple, it's easy, it's safe, it's relatively low impact, very low risk of injury. But like any movement, someone could get injured. That's why you really need to work with healthcare providers and physical trainers, exercise specialists, people that have certain kinds of credentials around these kinds of topics. So breaking this down, making it a little more visual here, really good article from 2024 that just talks about walking as being obviously very popular. It's a flexible type of physical activity. It can be done in many, many settings: indoor, outdoor, treadmills, and a variety of other settings, low risk of injury and no equipment needed. So maybe you're working with clients, they don't have a lot of money, they can't get a gym membership. Well, maybe it's a walking intervention you develop. What are some of the benefits of engaging in routine walking? Well, better physical fitness, reduction in disease risk. That is a very good thing. And it can help us live longer, the research says. Obviously, there's a multitude of other factors that we need to take into account. But walking is one intervention that can really make a difference in our brain and body health. This here comes from tons of studies I've reviewed over the years. So, what does the research say collectively about the benefits of engaging in routine walking? While you have some studies that say it reduces joint pain, it may play a role in reducing risk of certain kinds of cancers. It helps people have more energy during the day. It's a great way to manage stress. It's a great way to combat sleep issues. It's good for our immune system. It's great in the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Obviously, there's other interventions that would need to be implemented when we're talking about some of these physical health issues. It's a great way to combat anxiety and depression in conjunction, obviously, with other protocols and interventions. And it's great for our brain health. And this is just one study of many I want to highlight that utilizing a walking intervention with a client-based population can lead to improved cognitive functioning, improved processing speed. It can be good for working memory and other cognitive domains. Bit walking is a type of walking you'd want to be aware of. And this is one article of many that I wish I could include all of them, but walking consistently is good for gut health. It's good for brain health. It's good for blood sugar regulation. It's good for trauma treatment. It's good for substance use treatment. And the list goes on. What is fit walking? Maybe you're asking yourself, well, I'm not familiar with the term fit walking. Well, this is going to be more speed walking. So you ever go outside and you see these people walking and they are just burning rubber down the street. It's a type of power walking, it's very fast-paced. So this obviously wouldn't be appropriate for every kind of client. And typically, if someone's engaging in fit walking, they're probably going to be in a little better shape. And it takes time to get to this point. So this is one type of walking of many. Here's another type of walking, Nordic walking. You ever walk down the street and you see people walking and they have two poles in their hand. From what I've learned from this research over the years, this might be the safest and best type of walking, according to the research, because it helps with mobility and it also works the upper body in addition to the lower body. So Nordic walking would be something to look into. Nordic walking has also been shown to play a role in protecting and supporting brain health and enhance neuroplasticity. What does the research say in a nutshell about the benefits of engaging in routine nordic walking? Well, again, the research says it's safe, it's effective, it typically burns more calories than traditional walking. It helps to improve circulation. And the list goes on, as you can see here from this slide. Many, many benefits. Maybe you have clients that want to get into walking, but they don't want to do it alone. Well, maybe you're starting a walking group. There's a lot of walking groups out there around the country. You can find all kinds of different groups if you Google it online. What does the research say about some of the benefits associated with engagement in a walking group? Well, it may enhance safety. And if it's done by a qualified professional, you're gonna have more supervision, you're gonna have more oversight. It encourages more social contact. So it's a great way to reduce loneliness and isolation. It can be fun, it's motivational, especially when you're doing it in a group and you're cheering each other on. People often ask when I give talks on these topics well, how many minutes a day do you need to walk to get a therapeutic benefit? I've seen some studies say, you know, go out for a six-minute walk after a meal, and that may have some benefit. Here's a study, if you can see this visually, and I should have mentioned early on, check out our YouTube channel where you can see these slides visually. This is a good study done in 2024 that found that even engagement in a 12-minute walk can really lift someone's mood. So if I'm ever feeling maybe down in the dumps, a little anxious, if I go out for a brisk walk for just a short period of time, almost always after the walk, I seem to feel a little bit better. So that's a very quick overview in part one. Now, part two will move into some clinical considerations. So this article here, 2025 article, really great article that looked at walking and what it does for brain health. And this article highlighted that engagement in routine walking over a long period of time has many brain health benefits and it may play a role in preventing cognitive decline. Is it just the walking that plays a role? Probably not. What does the person eat? What's their gut health like? What are their sleep patterns like? What's their social health like? But walking is a big piece of this puzzle. If you work with folks with serious mental health diagnoses, there's plenty of research that does support the fact that implementing walking interventions into the good work you do can play a huge role in combating mental health. And this article here showed that brisk walking for about 30 minutes a day can really lead to better outcomes for people with a serious mental illness. Maybe you're working in a drug and alcohol treatment program. Continue to do the wonderful work you're doing, but there is empirical-based literature that also supports the fact that if you can implement exercise and walking interventions into your programs, that may play a great role in helping people stay sober. And here, this is an article that talks about the key benefits of exercise in addiction recovery. So this is more broad. It's not just walking, exercise in general. But people that are in recovery trying to stay sober from drugs and alcohol or even tobacco products, if they're engaging in regular exercise in addition to their other kinds of programming, it can boost their mood, reduce anxiety, help improve sleep health. It can definitely help enhance mental focus, and it's great for cravings. If people have a lot of cravings to relapse, engagement in exercise is a great way to manage those cravings more effectively. Our next section today is all about intake screening and implementation considerations. So walking is great, generally safe, but we need to be aware that maybe there's some barriers, limitations. Not all clients would probably do well with this. So it's a good reminder to work with qualified specialists who really know the ins and outs of this research literature. So if I put on my exercise prescription hat right now, what do we need to consider about the dose of walking? Well, if you're ever developing a program, you have the right credentials in place, the right professionals guiding these kinds of programs, what do you need to be aware of? The frequency, the duration, the intensity, the length of intervention, and exposure time. This really goes to the heart of why it's so important to understand the field of exercise prescription. There's a multitude of factors that can impact clients' emotional and behavioral health. And this slide here highlights a lot of these factors. I'm not saying walking can make a difference in every single one of these, but if you implement routine walking into the good work you do with clients, it can really play a role in helping clients manage these things more effectively, in particular, stress, anxiety, loneliness, worry, and the list goes on. If you're really looking at this holistically and you really want to start implementing some of these protocols into your programs, I think it's important to look and screen clients for engagement in any kind of modern lifestyle habits. Because if you see this slide here, if clients are engaging in these kinds of behaviors, these are threats to their health. So exposure to unhealthy diets. So if you're working with clients that eat a lot of processed food, they they eat food late into the evening. They're engaging in emotional eating, they have high levels of stress, they skip meals frequently, they live a prolonged sedentary lifestyle. These are all threats to clients' brain and body health, including gut health. What we're talking about today is walking. Walking can combat some of these. These other factors, working with a therapist, working with a dietitian, working collectively and collaboratively with other professionals is so important. I'm a major fan of the biopsychosocial model. We'll talk about this model many times over in this podcast program. But the biopsychosocial model is really a holistic approach to understanding screening and then working with clients holistically. So we're taking into account biological factors, psychological, social factors. This is one model of many you'll find in the biopsychosocial literature called the biopsychosocial lifestyle model. This might be a model to check out if you're interested in this topic, because this model looks at nutrition factors, physical activity patterns, sleep health, smoking sensation, reducing or eliminating drugs and alcohol consumption from the client's life. And this is a really good model to consider when you're using these approaches with clients with various neuropsychiatric disorders. So the biocycle social model, very holistic. If you see here, it really takes into account that mind-body connection. It also considers genetic factors, cultural factors, social factors, economic factors. It's very holistic. And the more we can understand all of these factors, then we can better understand the clients we work with and develop interventions that can be tailored to your client's unique background. This is something I just want to plant the seeds with all of you to be aware of in case you haven't heard of it. It's called Life's Essential Eight. You'll hear me talk about this in various segments we do on our podcast program. Life's Essential Eight, you can find on the American Heart Association's website. And it's just a common sense reminder of when you're working with clients or even in ourselves, we need to be aware of what we eat, weight status, our physical activity patterns, our sleep health, our blood pressure levels, our blood lipid levels. That's basically life's essential aid. The more we can have an appreciation for those eight factors and really address any of those factors that might be in kind of the concerning range, that's only going to help improve our brain and body health. So maybe you work with clients, they live a sedentary lifestyle. There's a lot of barriers we need to consider too. So let's just pretend you're ready to start a program like this. You have the right credentials, you're working with the proper people. What barriers could be at play when you're working with clients that get in the way of them engaging in physical activity? Well, do they work long days? Maybe there is lack of motivation. Maybe they have limited financial resources. Maybe there are concerning factors to consider in their neighborhood, weather conditions, things of that nature, family commitments. The more we can identify these barriers, then we can help clients maybe overcome these barriers with certain interventions. So, needless to say, you'll hear me talk about sedentary behaviors quite a bit too in upcoming segments, but sedentary behaviors are an epidemic in our country. More and more people are getting less and less movement, and part of that is excessive screen time exposure, working on the computer more and more every day. Sedentary behaviors are a threat to human health, brain, and body health. And when we screen for sedentary behaviors, there's all kinds of factors to take into account. Sedentary behaviors could be driven by not just screen time exposure, but maybe someone's in school and they need to study for long periods of time every day. Maybe they drive long, long distances to work. Maybe what they're doing is not necessarily a bad thing, but they're still sitting for long periods of time. The more we can educate clients and help them get more movement, it's only going to enhance health outcomes. And why do we want to care about prolonged sedentary behaviors? Well, it's common. It is caused and contributed by a host of factors. So maybe your client has mobility issues. Maybe they have a lot of fear. Maybe they're dealing with depression. Maybe they're just exhausted. Maybe they're addicted to their screen, the computer, all of these factors can really get in the way of that client having that motivation to get on and move more. And this here, if you can see it visually, hopefully is a reminder why we need to take the topic of sedentary behaviors very seriously, because there is some research that does indicate that prolonged sedentary behaviors may be just as bad on our body as smoking cigarettes. Really depends on a variety of factors, but prolonged sedentary behaviors over a long period of time can increase oxidative stress. It's not good for our bone health, it's not good for our immune system, our heart health. It may play a role in exacerbating metabolic syndrome, obesity, and the list goes on. Prolonged sitting has also been shown to contribute to more executive function impairment. So executive function is the boss of the brain. It relates to decision making, planning, reasoning, time management. Prolonged sitting could contribute to more deficits in those areas. So here is something you'd want to be aware of. And if you can see this visually, this is a risk assessment kind of protocol. Different factors you'd want to take into account when developing a walking-based program. So from a risk assessment lens, what do we need to be aware of? Well, maybe there's too many people in the walking group and it becomes too congested. We need to be aware of what kind of terrain the people are walking on. Being aware of histories of slips and falls, daylight hours. Maybe it's shortened and people don't have a lot of time to walk outside. Maybe some clients are on certain medications that make them a little more dizzy or fatigued. All kinds of things here. As you can see from this slide, there's many variables you'd really want to dig into and be aware of because some of these could be safety factors. If you're a therapist, a counselor, social worker, whatever kind of role you play in. Those fields. There's a lot of good literature that talks about implementing walking into therapy practice. And these are five different variables that you'd want to take into account if you were implementing walking into mental health treatment, counseling practices. Our last section, all about tips, strategies, solutions, and interventions. So, and we'll be having, we'll have one of our uh guest friends join us in an upcoming episode. She's going to talk a lot about lifestyle medicine. I love lifestyle medicine. I have a certification in lifestyle medicine. And I, in an ideal world, every professional working in the helping professions would get some at least basic training in lifestyle medicine. The reason why I like lifestyle medicine is because it's informed by all kinds of other fields of study. It's guided by nutrition science, exercise physiology, positive psychology, addiction medicine, behavior change, sleep medicine, and health and wellness coaching. Lifestyle medicine is a holistic approach to the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases, including mental health conditions. It's evidence-based behavioral interventions. You're really taking into account lifestyle factors, self-care factors, you're utilizing coaching approaches, education approaches, and it's a whole person kind of care approach. There are six pillars of lifestyle medicine. How does this factor into what we're talking about today with walking? Well, one of the pillars is physical activity. Walking is a form of physical activity. Another pillar is helping clients get better sleep, improve nutrition, helping clients avoid risky substances, improving social health, and helping people learn how to manage stress more effectively. Those are the six pillars of lifestyle medicine. So if you wanted to design a walking program, again, think about the things I've I've said already today. What kind of format of walking are you wanting to do? Is it fit walking? Is it Nordic walking? Is it a group? Is it one-on-one? What is the duration of the program? What's the dose of walking? And what's the walking context? This is why it's so important to work with exercise physiologists, people that have the credentials in these areas to help you set up these programs. How do we incorporate physical activity into everyday life? This extends beyond walking. Well, there's all kinds of things we can do. Get outside, pick up a hobby, get off the screen more, join a group. I've known clients that have joined a Zoom group where they've gotten into physical activity. There's all kinds of things we can do to help get us moving more. Walk and talk therapy. So if you were a therapist, you got the training on this, and you implemented this into the work you do, the benefits associated with walking and talk therapy are many and varied, but it shows it can help enhance outcomes for your clients by reducing stress even more. It helps clients get out of that office setting. It helps clear their mind, getting fresh air, natural sunlight. It's really good for rumination. It's good for problematic body sensations, pain-related issues. The list goes on. Walk and talk therapy is good for brain health because one of the reasons, and this is a good article from 2024, that it's common sense, but getting clients out working more and moving while you're doing talk therapy increases blood flow to the brain, which may help the client improve mental health functioning in and of itself. We've had an episode on the HPA access, check that out if you're interested in it. The hypothalamus, pituitary adrenal access. Walking is great for the regulation of the HPA access. And the HPA access plays a role in the gut brain access. Maybe you're asking yourself, well, I only do telehealth work. Well, there are interventions, there are protocols, and there are studies out there that have shown that if you implement some of these things we're talking about today through telehealth, that can be very effective as well. This is a good article from 2022, specific to clients with a history of mild traumatic brain injury, where they used a telehealth progressive walking intervention for adults. And it showed it led to good outcomes among the participants. I mentioned neuroplasticity before. We'll have an episode on neuroplasticity coming up. Neuroplasticity goes to the heart of learning, it's our brain's ability to rewire, learn new things. Walking, the research says, is a cost-effective, great habit that can help promote positive neuroplasticity in the hippocampus. Why do we want to care about that? Well, the hippocampus has a lot to do with memory. What are other things we can do to help enhance neuroplasticity in ourselves or in the clients we work with? Eat healthy foods, get good sleep, exercise, and even reading is very, very good for neuroplasticity. And why do we want to care about enhancing neuroplasticity in the clients we work with? It's been shown when we can enhance neuroplasticity, decision making gets better in a lot of cases. Memory is improved, problem-solving abilities are enhanced, it plays a role in creativity, and the list goes on. Maybe you work with clients that have a sugar-related problem addiction, or just people are trying to lose weight, eat healthier. Walking has been shown to be effective in reducing sugar cravings. This is a good study from 2015 that found that engagement in a 15-minute walk at a moderate intensity does play a role in reducing sugar cravings. Just getting people out in nature more is therapeutic. So maybe looking at some of this literature too, the more we can promote positive pro-nature activities, that is good for brain and body health as well. And when you study that literature base, you'd want to be aware of green space exposure, green exercise. Basically, what that means is you're walking outside more around nature. Maybe you're doing it in a group. Just the very nature of being around nature and trees and water and wilderness is very therapeutic. This is a really good article that just talks about some of the benefits associated with exposure to green space on a consistent basis. It's good for stress reduction. It's great for enhanced brain health. It's great for reducing depression and anxiety, loneliness, and the list goes on. Outdoor walking during trauma therapy. So maybe you're a trauma therapist. You're working with clients with a history of trauma. There are empirical-based studies that also support the use of therapeutic walking in the treatment of trauma. This is a good article from 2023 that focused on nature walking groups for people with mental health conditions. And the research shows it's very, very good for addressing mental health. So walking groups, maybe looking into that, maybe it's an individual. But if you're asking yourself, well, I need some more buy-in here. I need to convince my employer that this might be a good thing to consider. Well, it's been studied extensively. It's not just a few articles here and there that have shown the benefits of starting these kinds of programs. Many, many studies show that it can promote improved health and well-being among clients. And it typically is safe and cost effective. Here's some other interventions to consider in general if we're if you're looking at ways to reduce sedentary behaviors in the clients you work with. Well, we really need to dig into those barriers. We need to look at are there individual, family, environmental barriers, utilizing motivational interviewing, teaching the client about self-monitoring techniques, providing psychoeducation about the harmful effects of prolonged sedentary behaviors, and then developing effective goal planning strategies to address this. Other interventions to consider that can help clients reduce sedentary behaviors. Pretty similar to the last slide, but education, I think, is key. Motivation is very, very important. Very, very important to help clients when possible reduce sedentary behaviors. Equally important for all of us as professionals to consider this as well. Getting your employees, your co-workers moving more is supported in the literature. It is very important to do in the workplace. It's great to combat burnout. The more we can get our workforce moving, it contributes to enhanced employee health and well-being. Here's a really good article that talks about walk and talk coaching for burnout reduction. So maybe you're working in an organization, you're an HR specialist, you're a leader, you're a trainer, whatever you do, and you're looking at creative ways to help your workforce feel better, think better, reduce burnout, form a walking group, get a walking club going. It can be a great way to combat a lot of problematic outcomes that could rise up in your workplace. Very quick overview, folks. Be on the lookout for future episodes. We'll keep going deeper into all of these things. Here's my email address again. Hopefully, you get something out of this today. Let me know if you're doing a program like this. Love to hear from you, and we'll look forward to having you back to our next episode, folks.

SPEAKER_00 31:49

We hope today's episode provided you with valuable insights into the gut bring connection and its impact across diverse settings. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and share. For more information on this topic, resources, and services, visit Pathways Counseling Center.org. Thank you for joining us on the Psychogastroenterologist, where mental health and digestive science converge.