Throwing your backpack onto the couch after a long day of school, you’re hit with the neverending to do list for the night. School: Check. Practice: check. Homework: not so much. As you stare into your planner, you can’t even fathom picking up your pencil to study for your Algebra test the next morning. But this time, rather than shoving your exhaustion aside and forcing your fuzzy brain to focus, you put your tennis shoes back on and take a step outside.
As teenagers, we’re in a constant “what’s next?” state of mind, whether that’s sports, extracurriculars, studying or even emotional turmoil. After spending eight hours of the day sitting in classrooms, we’re expected to go home, pull out our laptops, and study for hours again. These high expectations without a proper moment for a breather or relaxation are dangerous for us as we grow into adulthood and enter into the workforce.
To counteract this busy and stressful lifestyle many of us live, it’s essential to find an outlet for a break. The benefits of walking aren’t new to the modern world. It’s not exactly a secret the health benefits exercise and nature offer humans. What’s missing is the emphasis of this to students as they grow up. It seems useless to prioritize such a thing when there’s countless other tasks at hand. However, by giving yourself those minutes of walking, you’re letting the jumbled thoughts bouncing throughout your mind release, if just for a few moments.
Rather than getting home from school only to scroll on your phone, desperate for some break before you head into your studying, take a 10 minute walk around your block. Put a timer on or have a destination in mind. Listen to a podcast, music or just the nature around you. Let yourself recenter and reconnect. After you return to your desk, you may find your mind cleared, ready to solve the next problem or write the essay due this week.
