The benefits of walking are often overlooked, especially in the fast-paced world of complex exercise routines and packing in as much movement as you can in a short period of time.
You might be surprised to learn that walking is a bit of a phenomenon that materialist science can’t adequately explain – more on that further down. Walking is also a really fantastic way of applying the Navigation Codex in a really tangible way.
“It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door. You step into the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to” Bilbo Baggins
With the words of Bilbo Baggins resounding in our heads, let’s dive in and discover why walking is a gateway to natural flow alignment.
What Existing Science Says About Walking
Whenever I cite scientific studies you will note a strong preference for meta-analysis, if you are curious why, I have a dedicated blog post on meta-analysis over individual studies.
There are two really interesting studies about the benefits of walking which I will summarise here.
Meta Analysis of 42 Studies with 1843 Participants
Findings showed outdoor walking produced statistically significant improvements in:
- Blood pressure
- Resting heart rate
- Body fat (BMI)
- Total Cholesterol,
- Depression,
- General physical functioning and quality of life.
Meta Analysis with 280,000 Participants
Findings show walking reduced all-cause mortality by 11% even when considering/adjusting for other physical activities.
The study also highlighted that of all exercise analysed, walking had the greatest impact on reducing mortality rates with even small amounts of walking providing substantial health benefits.
What Existing Science Can’t Explain About Walking
Because materialist science is fundamentally wrong, there are many anomalies that pop up in their studies, this is the case with walking studies as well.
There are simply aspects about walking they have no explanation for.
Walking Vs Running – Benefits of Walking
A vast study compared the outcomes of runners (33,060 participants) vs walkers (15,945 participants) over a period of 6.2 years.
The paradoxical finding was when energy expenditure is equivalent, walking had better health outcomes. Here are those stats:
| Health Outcome | Walking | Running |
| Hypertension (High Blood Pressure) | 7.2% less risk | 4.2% less risk |
| Hypercholesterolemia (High Cholesterol) | 7.0% less risk | 4.3% less risk |
| Diabetes | 12.3% less risk | 12.1% less risk |
Simply put, materialists can’t explain these differences, essentially walking and running are the same bio-mechanical activity, just done at different speeds. There is no reason why when walking and running energy expenditure is equalised that walking should be more beneficial for health – in the case of blood pressure and cholesterol, it is markedly better.
Hunter Gatherers and Walking
If the above study doesn’t compel you enough, here is a study that really has materialists stumped.
The study looked at Hadza hunter-gatherers (who walk on average 7.4 and 8.6 miles a day) found they don’t burn significantly more calories than sedentary Americans when adjusted for non-fat body mass.
There is no plausible explanation for this anomaly, and to be honest, materialists as they do with most anomalous studies, just brush them under the carpet and hope they go away.
What the Navigation Codex Says About Walking
The Navigation Codex already positions walking as better than running. Walking allows the body to process geometric movement and aligns it with natural flow. It is far less resistant an activity than running and allows humans to move at a natural cadence.
Walking is accessible to almost all humans; it can be undertaken at the pace that suits the individual and allows the mind and body to tap into the natural flow that underpins reality.
Running often puts the body under strain, and runners are essentially building in resistance into their exercise regimes. It is no secret that runners have significantly more injuries compared to walkers.
The Navigation Codex and the Hadza Study
It also beautifully explains the Hadza study.
The hunter gatherers are burning some calories, their energy is directed toward resistance in their environment, but it isn’t dependent on the amount of ‘work’ they are doing. Because they are in the natural environment and walking, these benefits offset against any effort they are putting into their hunter-gathering.
Now compare that to a sedentary American. A materialist would say they are doing no ‘work.’ But they actually are, they are constantly directing energy to counter the resistance patterns they are literally sat in. Non-natural environments surrounded by resistant noise is a lot for a human to counter.
I will cover how the Navigation Codex treats calories in a separate article, so if you’re interested in discovering more, check the article out.
Benefits of Walking
Let’s explore some of the already demonstrated benefits of walking.
- As mentioned above in the meta-analysis studies, walking has a great impact on cardiovascular health and reduces all-cause mortality.
- Walking strengthens both joints and muscles in harmony.
- Walking boosts immune function, allowing your body to better fight illness.
- Blood sugar regulation is improved by walking.
- It improves your mood, reduces depression, stress, and anxiety.
Benefits of Walking that Really Cement the Navigation Codex
The findings of reduced depression, stress and anxiety are brilliant in explaining how the Navigation Codex operates. When people are in flow alignment, they have less resistance and naturally depression, stress and anxiety diminish.
Another key finding that materialism doesn’t really explain is that walking has been proven to help overcome mental blocks and improve problem solving and creativity. Of course, for you Navigators out there, this will immediately resonate because flow alignment improves navigation and it goes without saying that you will be able to navigate life more optimally when improving flow alignment.
Intuitive Walking – Benefits of Walking for Alignment
All of these studies have been done presumably with traditional walking techniques. That is to say participants will have set destinations in mind and a timeframe in which they wish to complete their walk.
The Navigation Codex actually provides a more optimal walking method that I will call intuitive walking.
The first aspect of intuitive walking is to release the idea of walking from a to b. Instead, set out on your walk and take the route that feels most naturally compelling to you. Remember, flow always navigates optimally so you can’t go wrong by following your natural intuition when walking.
The second is to do away with time constraints. Walk only as long or as short as you wish to. Some days you may want to take long walks, some days not, your intuition will tell you which it is and whichever it is, as long as you trust your gut, it will always be optimal for you.
The Importance of Nature and Natural Environments
I appreciate that most people live in urban environments, sometimes extremely dense urban areas, but most areas, especially in the UK have places where nature is still present such as parks, nature reserves, or woodlands.
Natural flow best emerges in nature. They are one and the same.
Wherever possible, aim to get to those natural spaces.
Walking in urban environments is still better than not walking at all, it just adds a layer of resistance to your walking.
Walking in nature – Optimal flow, little to no resistance.
Walking in an urban setting – Optimal flow with medium to high resistant environment offsetting some of the flow.
Minimise Phone Usage – Benefits of Walking
We have all been guilty of walking along, phone in hand, not paying attention to the world around us, me included.
Using your phone adds another level of resistance to your walk. If you are walking in an urban environment with your eyes glued to your screen the resistance compounds.
Walking without using your phone will allow your mind to recalibrate to your environment, free up space for problem solving by ceasing the doom scrolling and improve your eyesight.
Remember your eyes when walking without a phone are always moving between distances, both near and far. When you have your eyes fixated on your screen that dynamic change and working of the eyes is reduced to near enough zero.
It is entirely up to you how you walk; my job is only to provide you with the information about what works best and why. What you do with that information is your choice.
Understanding Your Internal Compass
Inevitably, you might be questioning what stops natural flow and intuition taking you on a dangerous path. No one wants to walk off a cliff.
It is a valid question, but one that fundamentally misunderstands what natural flow is.
Natural flow never harms the structure, it always navigates optimally, only resistance can harm the structure.
No one is immune to a clouded navigational compass.
If you find yourself unsure of how to proceed there are three steps you can take.
- If you have an urge not to proceed in a certain direction then listen to that urge, it is likely your flow indicating that the way ahead is not optimal.
- If you find yourself with conflicting impulses, pause, breathe, take in your environment, and allow your internal compass to acclimatise to your surroundings, it will then signal the best route forward.
- If neither step 1 or step 2 works, which can happen if there is a lot of resistance in your internal guidance, be cautious and return the way you came. A tried and tested path is always better than a route you are unsure if your internal compass is directing you to go.
Benefits of Walking the Navigation Codex Way
We’ve looked at the various benefits of walking in general, but specifically there are advantages for walking as part of The Navigation Codex.
- Walking intuitively allows your body and mind to recalibrate. It aids in decision making and optimal navigation.
- It provides experiences that help you align with natural flow, with special benefits by walking in nature and understanding humans aren’t separate from it, they are intrinsic to the natural order.
- Walking removes you from resistance patterns by distracting your mind and body from other aspects of your life where resistance has accumulated. It frees up space and thinking capacity to progress in life.
With any Navigation Codex practice, it’s entirely up to you how you embrace it or if you choose to do it at all. The key is to find the flow activities that suit your life journey. We’re all sovereign, we all have the ability to choose.
