Licensed clinical social worker Shari B. Kaplan explains how walking during the first half of therapy helps rewire your brain. Rhythmic movement breaks stuck thought patterns, bilateral stimulation from alternating limbs calms your nervous system, and walking itself strengthens neuroplasticity so your brain can form new connections.
Let's talk about why walking during your first 30 minutes of therapy can be really helpful in achieving the goals that you're setting for yourself. So one, you are having rhythmic movement and rhythmic movement helps us to break different cycles in the brain and in our thought processes. Number two, you are bilaterally stimulating your brain and body, which helps to unlock the fight or flight. So your arousal goes down and you have more cognitive flexibility and you're more open to new ideas, new thoughts. And it's also been reported that with walking, you get some more neuroplasticity, means your brain can make more connections. So I hope that's helpful and just keep a-movin'.
