I wanted to show people all the reasons there were to walk,” she says. “Even in the darkness, even in the rain, there will be something that part of us will respond to, whether that’s physiological or emotional or cognitive. I didn’t want to be the person who was just telling everyone to get their 10,000 steps.”

As a person who walks for both physical and mental health, rather than a particular destination, Annabel Streets' 52 Ways to Walk: The Surprising Science of Walking for Wellness and Joy, One Week at a Time is both an inspiration, and a revelation. I knew that walking made me feel better, especially during these super trying times, but I wasn't sure why, nor how I could make a walk around my neighborhood more interesting.Annabel Streets is an award-winning author of both narrative and practical nonfiction. She occasionally writes under the name Annabel Abbs, a pen name she is using for her forthcoming nonfiction book, Windswept: Women Who Walked. I was always taught to walk before a meal and not afterwards. I now know that both are good for me. Studies have shown that walking before breakfast, within one hour of waking, burns off more fat than a walk after a meal. A walk after a meal aids digestion. Even a 10 minute walk after dinner can lower blood glucose spikes resulting from over eating and it will also help you to sleep.

While I was writing the book, I found myself thinking of my granny quite often,” she says. “All the things she would say – ‘Go for a walk and take a few deep breaths and then you’ll feel calmer’ – that sort of thing. I thought it was just my granny being whimsical. But it turns out that she was right all along.”A delightful balance of ideas, inspiration and science. The short punchy chapters fit well between walks and make them even more enjoyable’ – Tristan Gooley, author of The Walker’s Guide to Outdoor Clues & Signs As she returned to walking frequently, she made two rules for herself: walk instead of using the car, unless absolutely necessary and convert as many sedentary activities as possible into walking activities. I love walking. I thought there was nothing I needed to learn about it but I learned a lot from this book. I recommend it to anyone looking to enhance their daily walks or to start walking more than they currently do. pa... annabel streets djelomično je u tome i uspjela. iako nam je svima u podsvijesti "hodanje je dobro za tebe", još je bolje ako imaš iza sebe neke znanstveno potkrijepljene činjenice o dobrobiti tabananja. od 52 načina koje ona predlaže, neki su iskoristivi i dobrodošli podsjetnik na važnost disanja, ispravnog držanja, prikladne obuće i odjeće, hidracije bla, a neki su posve čudnovati i djeluju kao nategnuti način da se popune stranice (hodanje pjevajući, plešući ili crtajući). Research has shown a late afternoon walk among green trees is as effective as taking a sleeping pill, she says.

But in adulthood, she fell into a pattern familiar to many of us – days spent hunching towards a computer, evenings prone on the sofa. Working out in the gym, but using the car to get there. The combination of desk job and driving made her body “rounder, softer, achier, stiffer, stooped” and her mind anxious and unsettled. She made a resolution to do as much as she could on foot, getting a dog and proper wet-weather gear for extra motivation. I really loved this book, it is a true love letter to walking and walkers everywhere. It has numerous tips on how to walk in every kind of weather and the value of walking in the cold, wind, rain, snow, with poles, without them, nature walks, solitary walks, group walks, map walks, etc. Of course I’ve always walked for the sheer pleasure of being outside and enjoying nature, but I did enjoy the insight as to what scientists find happens to the body when we walk. To quote Psalm 139:14 “I am fearfully and wonderfully made”. God master designed the human body to benefit from walking, enjoying nature, slowing down( so we can enjoy the earth He created), and developing kindred spirits.Ways to Walk is published by Bloomsbury in the UK and Putnam Penguin Random House in the US under Annabel Streets.