Walking for Mental Vitality: Some Psychological Benefits of Walking in Natural Settings

The benefits to society from walking are many (e.g., economic, social, environmental) and a variety of personal motives support walking including utilitarian travel, increased physical health, and the intrinsic benefits of recreation and social interaction. There is now emerging a new reason for walking which both benefits society and is motivating to the individual. It focuses on mental (attentional) restoration. Attention Restoration Theory can be used to explain the psychological mechanism by which walking improves our mental effectiveness, as well as to suggest where and how to best gain this outcome. Effective functioning requires a mental state called vitality. Even in the best of circumstances maintaining this state is difficult. To make matters worse, modern culture all but conspires to wear mental effectiveness down. Mental vitality is understood to be the capacity to direct attention. Functioning effectively despite the distractions of our vibrant world is fatiguing of this capacity. Restoring this attentional capacity, being a precondition to thinking and self-regulation, thus becomes essential for maintaining social civility and individual wellness