The Science Of Walking: The Benefits Of Walking In Nature, Walking Meetings, And Walking Meditation | Dacher Keltner
This episode features Dr. Dacher Keltner, Professor of Psychology at UC Berkeley, discussing the profound benefits of walking in various forms, including "awe walks," walking meetings, and walking meditation, for improving concentration, reducing anxiety, and fostering well-being.
Deep Dive Analysis
12 Topic Outline
Introduction to the Power of Walking
Defining and Researching the 'AWE Walk'
AWE as a Skill and its Accumulative Benefits
The Mind-Body Unity and Pain Reduction through AWE
General Health and Cognitive Benefits of Walking
The Ritualization of Walking for Deeper Meaning
Walking for Enhanced Cognition and Problem Solving
Effectiveness of Walking Meetings for Concentration
Dacher Keltner's Approach to Walking Meditation
Dan Harris's Personal Walking Meditation Practice
Philosophical Implications of 'This is Nature' in Meditation
Conclusion and Dacher Keltner's Resources
6 Key Concepts
AWE Walk
A structured walk designed to induce feelings of awe and wonder. It involves getting into a quiet, meditative state, seeking out new or surprising elements in the environment, and focusing on details from small to vast (e.g., individual leaves to patterns of leaves) to deepen attention.
AWE as a Skill
The idea that the capacity to experience awe can be cultivated and improved with practice, rather than being a fleeting or mystical experience that diminishes with repetition. Research shows that regularly seeking awe leads to richer, deeper experiences over time.
Mind-Body Unity
A concept suggesting that the mind and body are not separate entities but an integrated system, as evidenced by the vagus nerve. This unity means that mental states like kindness and awe can directly influence physical states, such as reducing pain and stress.
Vagus Nerve
A large bundle of nerves extending from the brain to various organs including the face, heart, lungs, and gut. It plays a crucial role in the mind-body connection, being activated by positive states like compassion, awe, meditation, and deep breathing, leading to reduced stress and improved well-being.
Extended Mind
The concept that cognitive processes are not confined solely to the brain but extend into the body and environment. Walking, for instance, can enhance cognition and problem-solving, reflecting an evolutionary adaptation where humans often thought while moving through landscapes.
Ritualization of Walking
Transforming a regular walk into a meaningful, repeated pattern of behavior by incorporating personal significance, such as touching a specific tree or visiting certain spots. This practice can deepen the experience and provide emotional or spiritual benefits beyond mere physical exercise.
8 Questions Answered
An AWE walk involves seeking out wonder in the environment, focusing on details from small to vast, and can lead to increased awe, kindness, compassion, reduced distress and pain, and a less self-focused perspective, particularly beneficial for older adults.
Yes, awe is a skill that improves with practice. The more one intentionally seeks and finds awe, the deeper and richer the experience becomes, contrary to the belief that repeated exposure diminishes its power.
Kindness and gratitude, often cultivated during awe experiences, activate the vagus nerve and reduce the stress response, while also activating dopamine. These physiological changes make the body less susceptible to pain and daily stresses.
Walking is beneficial for physical health metrics like heart function and life expectancy, improves concentration, reduces anxiety, and can lead to feelings of ease and contentment, making it one of the best things one can do for overall well-being.
The 10,000 steps goal is often considered arbitrary, possibly originating as a marketing technique. While moving throughout the day is important, a target of around 8,000 steps is also commonly recommended, with Dacher Keltner personally averaging 9,000-10,000 steps daily.
Yes, walking is good for the mind; it helps with attention, memory, and problem-solving. It can quiet impulsivity, activate curiosity, and expand one's field of vision, leading to new insights, as exemplified by historical figures like Darwin.
Walking during meetings can be profound for concentration, even if one is not directly attending to nature. The physiological benefits of walking, such as changes in breathing, heart rate, muscle tone, and opioid release, contribute to an overall state that can enhance focus and problem-solving.
Walking meditation is a practice that integrates mindfulness with movement. It can involve syncing breath with footsteps, performing a body scan while walking, or using specific phrases to anchor awareness to physical sensations, mental attitudes, and the interconnectedness with nature.
14 Actionable Insights
1. Practice AWE Walks
On your regular walk, cultivate a quiet, meditative state by syncing breath and footsteps, then actively seek out wonder by focusing on small details before panning out to vastness, to deepen feelings of awe, kindness, and reduce distress and pain.
2. Dan’s Walking Meditation for Insomnia
If experiencing restlessness or insomnia, get out of bed and perform a walking meditation, using phrases like ‘There is a body’ to ground in physical sensations, ‘What’s the attitude in the mind right now?’ to observe mental states, and ‘This is nature’ to cultivate awe and a sense of interconnectedness.
3. Practice Synchronized Walking Meditation
Engage in walking meditation by synchronizing your breathing with your footsteps (e.g., four steps on an in-breath, six on an out-breath), and then perform a body scan to feel physical sensations and calm the mind.
4. Ritualize Your Daily Walks
Transform simple walks into meaningful rituals by creating repeated patterns, such as visiting specific spots or performing small, significant actions, to deepen their personal significance and benefit your well-being.
5. Mindfully Guide Walk Awareness
During your walks, mentally guide your awareness to your physical sensations (e.g., body movement, soreness) and observe your current attitudes and thoughts, which can powerfully orient your day.
6. Cultivate Awe as a Skill
Understand that the capacity to experience awe is a mental practice and a skill that deepens and becomes richer with consistent engagement, rather than diminishing over time.
7. Cultivate Kindness, Reduce Pain
Foster states of kindness and gratitude, as these emotions activate the vagus nerve, reduce stress, and stimulate dopamine, thereby making the body less susceptible to pain and daily stresses.
8. Walk Regularly for Well-being
Make walking a consistent part of your routine, as it significantly improves basic physical health metrics, enhances concentration, reduces anxiety, and fosters feelings of ease and contentment.
9. Conduct Walking Meetings
Opt for walking meetings, whether indoors or outdoors, as movement can improve concentration and information retention, while also providing physiological benefits like calmer breathing and reduced stress, even if not focused on nature.
10. Walk to Enhance Cognition
Utilize walking to aid cognition and problem-solving, as this activity, rooted in our evolutionary history, can help generate new insights by calming the body, activating curiosity, and expanding your field of vision.
11. Embrace Mind-Body Unity
Adopt the perspective of mind-body unity, recognizing that mental states are inseparable from physical sensations, and that cultivating positive mental states can directly influence physical well-being, such as reducing pain.
12. Avoid Overworking for Productivity
Resist the impulse to constantly overwork, as you often achieve more by doing less and incorporating breaks, a principle exemplified by Darwin’s highly productive schedule that included significant time for walking.
13. Sync Walks with Nature’s Rhythms
Integrate your walks with natural patterns and times of day, such as walking during rain to observe streams or towards dusk, to help synchronize your body with environmental rhythms.
14. Diverse Walking Practices
Incorporate various forms of walking into your life, including walking in nature, walking meetings, and walking meditation, to benefit your concentration, performance, and anxiety levels.
6 Key Quotes
I'm going to get a little John Lennon on you here again. It's like, I'm part of the universe, or I'm nothing, or I'm dissolving into the whole, you know, phenomenal field. But that's cool that the selfie becomes less self-focused, which is very fitting with the AWE science.
Dacher Keltner
It's a skill. It is not a mystical experience that once you seek it out, it's ruined. Rather, it's a mental practice.
Dacher Keltner
Walking is a basic state of consciousness, just like prayer might be or meditation or sleeping or social connection. And we should treat it with care.
Rebecca Solnit (quoted by Dacher Keltner)
Darwin did a daily walk. He had a very patterned way that he used to walk near his house. And some of his best insights about evolution came up on those walks.
Dacher Keltner
The expansive positive states open up our minds. They make us curious. They make us see systems and think of new insights. That's well-documented.
Dacher Keltner
We believe, I think, often subconsciously, we have this sense that we are isolated egos, separate from nature. But every thought we have, no matter how embarrassing and seemingly bespoke or idiosyncratic, is an expression of the universe.
Dan Harris
3 Protocols
AWE Walk Practice
Dacher Keltner- Get into a quiet, meditative state, slowing breathing and syncing up footsteps.
- Find a place out of your ordinary path that might bring a little wonder and awe (e.g., a different street, a neighbor's garden, an elevation to see the sky).
- Focus in detail on small things (e.g., individual veins on leaves) and then pan out to look at what is vast (e.g., the pattern of leaves on the sidewalk, many clouds).
Dacher Keltner's Walking Meditation
Dacher Keltner- Sync up breathing and footsteps (e.g., four steps during an in-breath, six steps during an out-breath).
- Perform a body scan, bringing awareness to physical sensations in feet, calves, thighs, and any areas of soreness.
- Notice and observe the attitudes and thoughts in your mind (e.g., rushed, critical, judgmental) without attachment.
- Expand awareness to notice colors and forms in the environment.
- Ritualize walks by syncing them to times of day and weather patterns (e.g., walking during rain to see streams, walking towards dusk).
Dan Harris's Walking Meditation for Restlessness/Insomnia
Dan Harris- Stake out a patch of land (e.g., 10 yards, a loop in the house) and walk at a slower-than-normal pace.
- Drop the phrase 'there is a body' into the mind to become aware of physical sensations (movement, hot, cold, seeing, hearing).
- When distracted, gently return to the phrase 'there is a body' and sensory experience.
- Drop in the phrase 'what's the attitude in the mind right now?' to illuminate subterranean desires or aversions, identifying hindrances.
- Drop in the phrase 'this is nature' to recognize that every thought and sensation is an expression of the universe, fostering a sense of indivisibility and awe.