I just found out that Thursday the 30th of March is “Take a Walk in the Park Day” here in the U.S., and although it sort of sounds like a “Go jump in a lake day,” I have to admit — on reflection — that the founders of this holiday are on to something good. After all, as I type this blog, I’m sitting in a climate-controlled office in front of a laptop computer screen completely separated from nature, with the possible exception of the wood my desk might actually be made from.
And yet, even here in Los Angeles, I’m spoiled for choice on park opportunities. From beach walks to mountain canyon trails, I have nearly 39,000 acres of park land right here in the city, with an additional 27,000 acres spread throughout the county. And that’s just Los Angeles. You folks in places like Washington, D.C., or the Twin Cities or Houston or Seattle fare even better per capita according to data from the Trust for Public Land. As a matter of fact, even the U.S. National Park Foundation reports that we have 424 national park sites that cover 84 million acres throughout the country with opportunities to engage in physical activity beyond that of walking.
If “Take a Walk in the Park Day” is all about getting us to recognize and utilize the parks available to us, I say it’s high time we do. Spring is on the way in many parts of the country, so a walk in the park is a good way to break that hibernation groove following a long, cold winter. This is good not only for our physical health but for our mental well-being too. Study results referenced from a 2020 American Psychological Association blog similar to this one justify our need to connect with nature. The APA reports that cognitive development in children improves from having parks near schools and mood states improve across all age groups when we connect with nature. I was surprised to learn from a 2019 study cited by the APA that even the sounds of nature (e.g., ocean waves, crickets) improve subject performance on cognitive tests when compared to subjects who listen to city sounds.
We need nature. Experiencing nature directly, by getting out there to take a walk in the park, also connects us to our communities and helps us to understand how much that we and our built environment influence our surroundings and how, ultimately, our natural world governs the quality of our lives. Among the most enduring images in my mind during the COVID-19 pandemic are those of wild animals tentatively roaming the streets of our cities as we retreated indoors during lockdown. I doubt they missed us much, but I know I missed them.
Take a walk in your local park on Thursday the 30th. Get away from the screen, get some fresh air, and don’t be surprised if your escape becomes a habit. In more ways than one, you’ll be better off for the effort.
Christopher Berger, PhD, FACSM, ACSM-EP, CSCS is an Exercise Physiologist with Occidental College in Los Angeles where he never needs a national holiday to enjoy a walk in the park.
