Walking is the Best Medicine for Life After Middle Age
Once, Zhang E asked Su Shi to write a calligraphy piece about health preservation.
Su Shi smiled and said, “I have obtained an ancient prescription for health and longevity, requiring only four ingredients. I shall give it to you now.”
With that, Su Shi wrote on rice paper:
First: Being carefree is equivalent to being noble
Second: Early sleep is equivalent to being wealthy
Third: Walking peacefully is equivalent to having a carriage
Fourth: Eating late is equivalent to having meat
The third ingredient, “walking peacefully is equivalent to having a carriage,” emphasizes the benefits of walking.
Among all exercises, walking comes first.
Unlike other forms of exercise, walking causes the least damage to the body and is the safest.
For middle-aged people, walking is the best medicine.
Daily walking is the best way to nurture yourself.
01 Walking Nourishes the Body
The World Health Organization has stated through research: The best exercise in the world is walking.
Scientific walking exercise is key to physical and mental health.
More walking exercises the muscles and bones, strengthens the heart and lungs, and improves overall health.
Ba Jin loved walking throughout his life.
When studying in Paris, he would “walk in Luxembourg Gardens every morning.”
Even in old age, he never slackened.
Every morning, his first task was to drink a glass of milk, then go downstairs to walk in the courtyard.
Even when ill in his later years, he would walk dozens or hundreds of meters with a cane.
The old gentleman lived over a hundred years. He believed that people age first in their legs. Therefore, in his view, walking was the best exercise for the body.
A door hinge never gets worm-eaten, flowing water never becomes stagnant.
If middle-aged people always sit without moving, various organs will gradually deteriorate.
Simply by taking steps, replacing prolonged sitting with walking, and replacing lying down with strolling, the more you walk, the farther you’ll be from disease and the closer to health.
Jiro Ono, known as the “God of Sushi,” also greatly enjoyed walking in his daily life.
In his eighties, he still insisted on walking from home to his shop every day.
This journey took nearly two hours, yet he found it tireless and enjoyable.
Speaking about this habit, Jiro Ono reflected: “If I hadn’t persisted in walking, how could I still stand in the shop all day at over eighty years old?”
Walking exercise is the beginning of self-discipline for middle-aged people and the most cost-effective choice.
Doctors call ages 45-55 the “swampland” of life’s journey.
During this age range, the body begins to decline, and various problems like hypertension and obesity frequently occur.
Precisely at this stage, we’re busy with careers and caring for families, with no time to exercise.
Therefore, for middle-aged people, walking is an excellent choice.
No need to spend money at gyms struggling with various equipment, nor to spend effort researching countless health preservation secrets.
Persist in walking, taking ten thousand steps daily—this is the best healthcare.
02 Walking Nourishes the Heart
Danish philosopher Kierkegaard went out for walks almost daily to relieve the pressure and frustration from his philosophical explorations.
He had a sister-in-law who was often bedridden and consequently depressed.
To encourage her, he once wrote: “Above all, do not lose the desire to walk. I know of no thought so heavy that it cannot be walked away.”
The process of middle-aged people walking is also a process of emptying themselves.
Striding forward, those shackles from work and life fall away one by one, allowing the heart to gain freedom.
In his book “Why We Walk,” Shane O’Mara proposed the simplest feasible method for self-healing: regular walking.
Middle-aged people have countless worries. If you’re tired, weary, or fed up at this moment, why not go out for a walk?
Stroll around the flower beds in your neighborhood, wander through the market, and rediscover that long-lost peace and composure.
Nietzsche once fell into a low period.
After “The Birth of Tragedy” was published, it angered a group of classical professors, bringing the darkest moment of his career.
Emotionally, he also suffered repeated setbacks, proposing marriage multiple times only to be rejected repeatedly.
He was extremely distressed, developing not only headaches but also rapidly deteriorating vision.
He resigned from his university professorship and began self-healing his body and mind.
Initially, he wandered by the lake and in forests, walking for six hours at a time.
Later, he began trying mountain walks, where the air was clear, light was suitable, scenery was pleasant, and life force was abundant.
When weather turned cold, he went to southern cities for winter, still walking about four hours daily.
Long-term walking restored peace to his soul. During this period, he wrote several stunning masterpieces including “Beyond Good and Evil” and “Thus Spoke Zarathustra.”
Walking is emotional release and powerful nourishment for the inner self.
When you have time, arrange a hiking trip for yourself; when you don’t, take walks around your residence.
Pacing aimlessly, observing without purpose, focusing only on clouds and wind flowing by—this is when healing occurs.
03 Walking Nourishes the Spirit
Thoreau once spoke about the benefits of walking:
“Once my legs start moving, thoughts in my mind begin to surge, like releasing floodwater toward lower ground. Thoughts continuously form new streams at higher elevations. Trickling streams emerge from the source, nourishing my brain.”
When the body moves, the mind follows.
In walking, people enter a relaxed state where thoughts are organized and inspiration naturally emerges.
At age 49, Jobs wanted to publish an autobiography about himself, so he called biographer Isaacson to arrange a meeting.
What puzzled Isaacson was that the meeting place wasn’t at Jobs’ company or any other formal venue, but outdoors—Jobs invited him to walk together.
Later he learned that Jobs liked to have serious conversations while walking and even had the habit of holding meetings while walking.
His amazing creativity and revolutionary ideas were all born during walks.
For middle-aged people, it’s not just the body that goes downhill—brain power also begins to decline, and concentration decreases.
Walking becomes the key to unlocking thinking.
When our minds stagnate, we might as well get our bodies moving first, relieving brain fatigue and injecting vitality.
Whenever Hemingway encountered creative bottlenecks and needed to clarify his thoughts, he would walk long distances along the wharf, watching seagulls fly and sails billow, gradually clearing his mind.
Composer Gustav Mahler walked up to 4 hours daily, using this time to organize thoughts and record inspiration.
Walking has another benefit: it can reactivate a crashed brain.
If you sit at a desk handling work tasks for long periods, your mind becomes foggy and unable to focus effectively.
At such times, we might as well choose to go out for a walk.
In relaxed strolling, gather scattered attention; in interaction with the external world, stimulate thinking power.
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Academician Zhang Boli once said in an interview that the best exercise is walking.
He walks six to seven thousand steps daily, a habit he’s maintained for 20 years.
Therefore, he remains energetic, busy with outpatient clinics and lectures everywhere.
The changes walking brings to people may not be visible in a day or two.
But with persistence, from body to soul to spirit, changes will quietly occur.