Summary
Dan Harris speaks with UC Berkeley psychology professor Dacher Keltner about the multifaceted benefits of walking, covering nature walks, awe walks, walking meetings, and walking meditation. Keltner describes his research on "awe walks" where participants aged 75 and older practiced seeking wonder during weekly walks, resulting in increased feelings of awe, greater compassion, reduced pain, and less distress over eight weeks. A fascinating finding was that participants' selfies gradually showed the self getting smaller as they dissolved into their surroundings. The conversation explores walking as a defining human trait linked to creativity, concentration, and problem-solving, with references to Darwin's daily walks and the concept of walking as an "extended mind." Keltner explains how walking activates the vagus nerve, triggering cascading benefits from deeper breathing to improved heart rate and dopamine release. Dan Harris shares his detailed walking meditation practice involving three prompts: "there is a body" for physical awareness, "what's the attitude in the mind" for emotional checking, and "this is nature" for recognizing unity with the natural world. Both discuss ritualizing walks and syncing breathing with footsteps as powerful contemplative practices.
Key Points
- Awe walks in adults 75+ increased feelings of awe, kindness, and compassion while reducing pain and distress over eight weeks
- Walking activates the vagus nerve, reducing stress response and activating dopamine, which raises pain thresholds
- Walking in nature improves concentration, reduces anxiety, and helps students perform better according to University of Michigan research
- Ritualizing walks by taking the same routes and adding meaningful stops deepens the psychological benefits
- Syncing breathing with footsteps (4 steps in, 6 steps out) creates a walking meditation that combines body scan with breath counting
- Walking meetings improve problem-solving and creativity by activating curiosity and expanding the field of vision
- Walking is a defining human trait that shaped brain evolution and supports cognition even during phone conversations
- Walking meditation using three prompts (body awareness, attitude check, nature recognition) can help with insomnia
Key Moments
Awe walks reduce pain and increase compassion in elderly
Dacher Keltner's research on weekly awe walks with adults aged 75+ showed increased feelings of awe and compassion, reduced pain and distress, and participants' selfies showed the self getting smaller as they connected with their surroundings.
"going on the awe walk led people to feel over time more awe. So the more we practice this, the richer it gets."
Walking activates the vagus nerve for mind-body benefits
Walking activates the vagus nerve, a large bundle of nerves connecting brain to heart, lungs, and gut, triggering benefits including stress reduction, dopamine release, and raised pain thresholds through mind-body unity.
"And, you know, thank you for bringing this up, the Cartesian distinction between mind and body. And, you know, you see it in Judeo-Christian thought and Western European analytical thought. It doesn't make sense neuroanatomically. The great example is the vagus nerve. large bundle of nerves that goes from your brain, the mind, through your facial musculature to your vocalization muscles, down to your heart, your lungs, your digestive organs, and the microbiome in your gut. It's just this big system of neurons, right? All this flow of information, and it's pure mind-body. And what I love about the vagus nerve is it's activated by the things you and I care about and try to promote. You meditate, elevated vagus nerve, compassion, elevated vagus nerve activation, awe, you know, beauty, music, and walking and deep breath."
Walking as a cognitive and creativity enhancer
Walking improves concentration, problem-solving, and creativity. Darwin made his greatest insights on daily walks. From an evolutionary standpoint, humans are designed to think while moving as former nomads and hunters.
"Walking is a basic state of consciousness, just like prayer might be, or meditation, or sleeping, or social connection. And we should treat it with care."
Walking meditation practice for insomnia and awareness
Dan Harris shares his walking meditation practice using three prompts from Buddhist teachers. Walking slowly before bed with attention to body sensations, mental attitudes, and the recognition that everything is nature helps with insomnia and deepens awareness.
"there is a body, which is a funny phrase. It sounds like something you would say at a crime scene, but there is a body is actually something that's taken out of the Buddhist scriptures."
