Monday, January 10

I’ve always had an on and off relationship with exercise; it is difficult for me to get out of bed and start going, but once I’m done, I feel a million times better. There is one exception to this feeling, though: hot girl walks. Hot girl walks are one form of exercise that I have never had to convince myself to partake in, as they are so manageable and quite honestly enjoyable. 

They are healing - proving to myself that just putting one foot in front of the other can spark a variety of happy emotions is something very powerful. They don’t take any prior skill, any amount of intense muscle to perform, but they’re something that can improve anyone’s mental health in just a few minutes or few hours.

My experience with walking started during quarantine, when there was barely anything that I could find interesting enough to fill my days with. I remember wanting to do some sort of work out—I had started overeating out of boredom, resulting in a rather skewed relationship with food and exercise during the few months of solidarity. And I know I’m definitely not alone in this. 

Since it was pretty warm in Illinois in the first few months of quarantine, walking was something that I could do for hours at a time in order to make my days a little less boring. I would walk around my neighborhood, town, and even sometimes to a few towns over if I was feeling particularly bold. I’d listen to music or podcasts, expanding my knowledge on different artists and topics that helped me to learn more about our beautiful world, even in an unfortunate and unpredictable time. It was also a great activity I could do with the people I wanted to see even while socially distanced.

Flash forward to now, when the intense COVID restrictions have somewhat eased - my love for hot girl walks has persisted. Although being in the cold in Ann Arbor doesn’t allow me to rack up as many miles comfortably, there are still days that I throw on my warmest clothes and get some miles under my feet. It immediately improves my mental well-being, and anyone can set aside just 15 minutes in their day, even when it seems impossible.

So, the next time you’re feeling particularly down, or like you need a mental boost, strap on your tennis shoes and go for your own hot girl walk.