The magic answer to stress. And it’s five miles long

Nadine works in the NHS; she has three teenage children.

She gets stressed by her job; she gets even more stressed at home.

Irritations go round and round in her head; people and events trouble her long after she has left them because she continues to think about them.

We’ve often met and reflected on what she might do to help herself.

And one of our plans is paying off apparently.

‘I’m going walking,’ she tells me, ‘and it’s brilliant. I’ve never really done exercise before. But twice a week, I do a ten to twelve mile walk with my friend. It usually takes a while for calm to arrive, my mind still busy; but after five miles or so – it does take five miles – any stress has just dissolved. It’s amazing. We have a great time.’

She certainly looks better in herself.

The cardiac and breath work of physical exercise takes us out of the anxiety machine that is our head, and into our bodies.

It’s a very different place to live from.

What’s your version of Nadine’s five miles?