Why evening walk is a great routine?

After holding the seminar Morning Routine, I took my friend’s hand and told him: ‘Can you promise me to start using one thing from our seminar?’ As I deeply appreciate Sayantan, I wanted him to take some benefit from it.

‘For the next 2 weeks I will wake up in the morning, drink a glass of water and do a small set of exercises,’  said Sayantan, smiling, but not truly understanding what he committed for.

At the same time, I felt weird not promising something in return, so I promised in my turn to make a 40 minute walk before going to bed every day. Why it was specifically a 40 minute walk, I can not remember now :/

First day Santa was really excited to wake up at 5.00 a.m., but an hour later he fell back asleep and came to work only at 10 a.m.  Nevertheless, I supported and encouraged him  to continue, but instead suggested that he shift waking-up time more gradually The following few days some things did not work out for him , but he managed to make a permanent habit of drinking a glass of water with lemon juice and doing stretching exercises.

More importantly, the promise I gave him affected me even more. It was a spontaneuous decision to walk before going to bed. At present I consider that to be one of the most powerful routines. Two weeks turned into a continuous routine that is replaced occasionally with other activities related to sport or seeing people dear to my heart .

First of all, a brisk one-hour walk outdoors in the fresh air gives you the time to plan the next day and to reflect on the ending day.  Being thankful for the day you had is a really something to treasure. I believe that every day we have should be celebrated in the evening.  Remembering hard work we did, people we helped, emotions we felt, goals we achieved brings an extremely pleasant feeling that your life is good!

Of course, not all the days are sunny.  Still there is always something to be thankful for.  Furthermore, the place where I walk inspires me:  the bay area in Keilaniemi, Espoo, is the residence of hundreds of companies, including Microsoft. They even have their own helicopter pad, near the shore of the Baltic sea that is usually my furthest destination to reach.

Secondly, walking builds up your body, is gentler on the knees compared to running and makes the skin breathe! No cream will make your skin white and your cheeks pink like walking does! People spending time outside in the fresh air tend to have a better skin. In addition,  due to walking I lost several kilos that were hard to lose!  That was a great reward.

Thirdly, I spend this sleepy time before going to bed in the nicest way I could imagine. Computer as an alternative does not give much benefit at this time, when you  only have the energy to browse passively. Evening time is  time for socializing  and at times  I meet my closest friends that make me forget about all the routines..

My clever friend Sergio found another reason for walking.  He told me that walking gives time for slow and calm processing of one’s emotions and thoughts that have accumulated over the day. Indeed, during the day lots of thoughts are accumulated and one of the biggest reasons for not being able to sleep is having the continuous endless flow of thoughts. Some people read before going to bed. Some drink warm milk. Some meditate.  All these are the ways to bring your mind to a quiet mode ready to sleep. Quietness comes after ordering your thoughts, letting some of them go. It can not be done just by lying on the bed before going to sleep. What would be your way of ending the day: walking, meditating, conversations with the dearest, a sauna, a book is up to you and the circumstances.