Walking in your grief journey can be a great way to continue to bring healing to your heart after losing your child. There are so many benefits to walking. In this post I want to hone in on 3 reasons WHY walking is so helpful, specifically related to healing from your grief.
I’m a big fan of walking in your grief journey. Like physically going outside and walking.
Walking has been so helpful for me as I’ve tried to figure out this life after losing my son. It has brought such healing to my heart in ways that I wasn’t expecting.
Walking through my grief is something I discovered about a year or so after I lost Sam. It became a great tool that I could use to help process all the emotions that come with this grief journey.
Being outside in God’s creation brought such peace to my heart. It made me feel so close to God AND to Sam.
But why is that?
Why did being outside help my heart heal?
That’s what I want to talk about in this post. Three ways walking outside can play a part in your grief journey and can bring healing to your broken heart.
Grief Walking with Jesus
There are so many things that you can do to help process your grief and I don’t believe that there’s one “right way” to grieve. I also believe that the way you process grief changes in different seasons of your life and your grief journey.
When I first lost Sam what brought me comfort was going and sitting with him at his grave. I homeschool my kids, so we would bring a blanket and some books and we would sit beside Sam.
I would read to my other kids and then they would go run and play in a big field that was right beside Sam. And I would just sit and be with my baby.
At that point in my grief journey, that is what brought me comfort. That was what helped bring healing to my heart.
As time went on I noticed I didn’t need to go sit with Sam as much as I did and at first I felt guilty.
I was like: What am I doing? I should be going out there like I have been doing!
But then I realized, I received a layer of healing in my heart that meant I didn’t need to go there as much anymore.
The thing that was bringing me healing to my heart? It worked! It brought healing to my heart to the point where I felt like I didn’t need to do that as often.
So what was the next step in my healing journey? What was the next thing that was going to continue to bring healing to my heart? Continue to help me process my grief?
That’s when I discovered walking.
I’ll never forget the first time I experienced the joy that walking would bring me. I was having a hard day and I just needed to get out of the house. I put on my shoes and just started walking.
Y’all! I will never forget this moment.
The immediate peace that I felt in my heart was amazing. I could close my eyes and almost feel Sam walking beside me. It was so amazing!
So let’s get into why walking is so incredible for your grief journey.
Would You Rather Listen To This Post?
APPLE // SPOTIFY // ALL OTHER PLATFORMS
The Benefits of Walking for Mental Health
First I want to talk about the actual act of walking. This could be anywhere.
It could be in a gym on a track or on a treadmill. It could be outside. It could be in your living room. The location doesn’t matter. We’re just talking about the act of walking.
We all know walking is a really great exercise for your physical body.
Our physical body is another layer that is hit when we lose our child. Grief affects us physically, mentally, and emotionally. So walking is a great way to start bringing healing to your physical body.
But I really want to focus in on the mental health benefits of walking.
Walking Lowers Depression
Walking is great for your mental health. It helps to lower stress, anxiety, and depression.
18% of adults who got half the recommended amount of walking had a lower risk of depression. Adults who got the recommended amount of walking per week (which is about 2 and half hours of walking per week) had a 25% lowered risk of depression. One in nine cases of depression could potentially be prevented if you walked. (source)
Walking Improves Your Mood
Additional benefits of walking is how it can improve your mood.
Walking releases endorphins that make you feel good. Those endorphins are the ones that help balance your cortisol, your stress levels. (source)
Walking is Easy
Walking is the easiest thing you can do. And in this grief journey, we need easy!
All you have to own are a pair of walking shoes and have access to somewhere to walk. That’s it!
If you live somewhere where you can walk around your neighborhood, it’s as easy as slipping on your shoes and walk out your door. If you’re not in a place where you can walk where you live, then find a local park somewhere that has a walking track and walk there.
The benefits of walking for your mental and emotional health are so worth it!
The Benefits of Fresh Air
Now I want to talk about walking outside. Actually going outside to walk.
When you go outside and take a big deep breath of that fresh air, it’s amazing the difference you feel! God created us and he created nature, so it should be no surprise how great fresh air is for our body. But not only our body, our mental health as well!
Fresh air boost your mood, lowers your heart rate, increases energy levels and even improves digestion. (source)
So what’s in fresh air that can boost your mood and make you happier?
Serotonin is the “happy hormone” in your body. It lightens your mood and promotes a sense of happiness and well-being. And serotonin is directly affected by the amount of oxygen that you inhale.
So when you go outside and you breathe in that fresh oxygen air, it boosts your serotonin, which in turn boosts your happiness. That’s why you have that peace when you take that big deep breath outside!
When you breathe fresh air it literally is boosting your serotonin level!
Losing a child, experiencing pain and grief that goes that deep, changes you. When I lost Sam, one of the things I noticed changed was my mind. Sometimes my thoughts feel muddled and it’s hard for me to come up with words (which is something I NEVER had problems with before).
Did you know that fresh air can help with that?
According to Swegon Air Academy: “Your brain uses 20% of the oxygen you breathe in to function. Increasing the amount of fresh air can provide greater clarity to the brain, promoting optimal function whilst helping you think, focus and concentrate better.”
Simply by going outside and breathing in that fresh air, you can receive more clarity in your mind, improve your concentration, and think clearer.
So if you’re struggling with not being able to think clearly, get outside and take a big, deep breath in of fresh air. That will help your brain get more oxygen, which is what it needs for to be able to think clearly.
How amazing is that?! God knew all that when he made this world and when he made us.
The Benefits of Being Outside in God’s Creation
We all know God created everything we see outside. The trees, the grass, the birds, the clouds, the sun, the wind – all of that is what God created. He literally spoke the words and it happened.
So when we’re outside in nature, we’re standing in the voice of God.
Nature testifies about God.
Psalm 19:1-4 says:
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”
God’s creation is literally testifying about God.
That’s why when we are outside we feel so close to God! Because nature is screaming out: There is a God! He created us!
Have you ever gone somewhere in nature that when you looked at it, the sight of it literally took your breath away? That’s nature testifying that God is real! And we get to experience that simply by going outside.
This is why I’m a big fan of combining all three of the things I’ve talked about in this post: Combine the physical act of walking, outside in nature, while taking big deep breaths of that fresh air.
I believe combining these things can be a great tool for your healing journey.
Now go! Lace up your shoes, step outside, take a big deep breath in, and go walk.
More Ideas for Finding Healing From Your Grief
PIN FOR LATER
Leave a Reply