Trend expert Sahil Bloom, author of the blog The Curiosity Chronicle, points out that one of Steve Jobs’ secrets to disruptive ideas was to go daily and consciously. In fact, the Cupertino company’s iconic circular building is home to more than 9,000 trees and plenty of paths for you to get creative. Associating this gentle and healthy physical activity with spiritual fertility is nothing new. Already in ancient Greece, Aristotle had founded the Peripatetic school, which can be translated as “wanderer”, because this philosopher and teacher taught his lessons while walking. Among the modern philosophers who have adopted this good habit, famous is the case of Kant, who walked every afternoon from exactly five to six o’clock, always taking the same route. Then he locked himself in his office to write down what he had thought. For his part, the novelist Haruki Murakami, recently awarded the Princess of Asturias Literary Prize, admits in his essay “What I talk about when I talk about writing” that the daily movement of his body has influenced his imagination for more than three decades Point makes Of course, you can’t sit down to write without this exercise.
In this regard, neuroscientist Sara Teller explains in her latest book that, among many other benefits for the brain, moving the body also increases BDNF, a protein that promotes the formation of new neurons and connections, which stimulates learning and memory. To confirm this, a 2014 Stanford University study mentioned by Bloom looked at what happened to 176 participants spread across different thinking environments. The conclusion was that those who walked showed an average 60% increase in creativity in subsequent tests compared to those who sat. This result confirms the observation made by the 19th century writer H.D. Thoreau, who stated: “The moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow, as if I had released a stream below and thereby allowing new springs to arise.” will flow in the upper one.”
To nourish these sources, a daily 30-minute walk outdoors is enough. However, to go beyond physical exercise and transform it into a creative impulse, two conditions must be met: We must turn off the phone notifications, since the walk is not rich in original ideas if we pay attention to emails, messages and notifications. . It’s about creating a space of separation so that new things can emerge, and secondly, headphones have to be avoided. For the same reason. Basically, when we listen to a podcast or an audio book, the mind absorbs that content and does not generate its own ideas. Creativity experts even recommend avoiding music. If we need it to relax, we should choose instrumental pieces, otherwise our attention will be focused on what the lyrics are saying.
In his essay “In Praise of Walking,” Shane O’Mara points out that people who walk are happier and less prone to depression than those who engage in more sedentary activities. In addition to these mood benefits, this professor of experimental brain science at Trinity College Dublin argues: “If we want to encourage freer forms of creative cognition, we need people to get up from their desk, away from their screen and start moving.” With that in mind writer Rebecca Solnit points out that, like Thoreau, the fact that there are no forests nearby should not be an excuse not to walk, since an urban environment is also a stimulating landscape. As he states in his book Wanderlust: A History of Walking: “A city is a language, a source of possibilities, and walking is the act of speaking that language, of choosing between those possibilities.”
Many people use an app on their cell phone to complete 10,000 steps per day to keep their body and mind in shape. However, a study of 226,000 people cited by the BBC shows that just 4,000 steps a day have important benefits for our cardiovascular health. Now we know that walking not only saves our lives, but is also an excellent way to get out of mental lethargy and promote a new way of thinking.
The longest walk
— After reading the story of a couple who crossed the United States on foot, couple Jenn Baljko and Lluís L. Bayona decided to undertake a more than 10,000-mile hike from Bangkok to Barcelona. It was 955 days.
— The feat was not without difficulties: from dog attacks to countries where they had trouble getting visas because they didn’t have enough days to cross on foot. The relationship between the couple also experienced ups and downs and they played separate roles.
— Her experience, soon to be recounted in a documentary, shows that one of the charms of walking is the interaction. This also promotes creativity.
Francesc Miralles is an author and journalist who is an expert in psychology.
Subscribe to continue reading
Read without limits
_