In the first of a series of articles to help inspire businesses to get their employees outdoors, we explain why we are getting behind a campaign to encourage UK businesses to encourage their workforce to embrace #outdoorlife.
At HECK we’ve appointed our first Outdoor Ambassador, Jack Tate, who undertook an epic walk from Yorkshire to Cornwall as a charity fundraiser. He returned from his journey having smashed his fundraising target, but also with a true love of the inspiration and the mental health break that walking offers.
Jack’s enthusiasm has inspired us and so we now want to encourage companies to embrace the outdoors and encourage their employees to get outside every day for a walk… and also a talk.
The benefits of walking for health are well known, but we believe that buddying up with a walk partner is a great opportunity to talk too. During lockdown that buddy might be a virtual one, but having someone to spend time with away from the desk is the perfect opportunity to chat and bond, and if needed, share a problem.
The health benefits:
- Walking can help prevent and manage heart disease
- Walking reduces the risk of having a stroke
- Regular walking can help strengthen bones
- Exercise can reduce anxiety, loneliness and depression.
- Exercise can increase feelings of independence
- Physical activity can improve balance, co-ordination and joint flexibility, which can help prevent falls
Hints and tips for keeping up your enthusiasm for walking, whatever the weather:
- Diarise your walk to ensure you stick to it
- Create a virtual walking buddy with a friend, family member or work colleague and 'share the load'
- Set challenges to keep up interest
We’ve pulled together a list of podcasts that we’ve found inspirational:
- https://play.acast.com/s/walkingthedog
- https://www.david-tennant.com/podcast
- https://meditationstudioapp.com/podcasts
- https://audioboom.com/channel/nosuchthingasafish
- https://theramblingrunner.com/
- https://www.forestryengland.uk/blog/top-nature-podcasts
If you embrace the outdoor life in your workplace, we’d love to hear your stories over on Instagram and Facebook.