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Showing posts with label Benefits of Walking Outside with Someone. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Benefits of Walking Outside with Someone. Show all posts

What are the Benefits of Walking Outside with Someone


I am a body language and human behavior specialist. In many books and programs I share t
he benefits of walking.  

  1. Men feel more comfortable, bond, and self-disclose more when side by side, and walking outside with someone side by side can increase all those factors for men walking with other men and mean walking with women. In addition children, male or female or LGBT+ feel more comfortable and will self-disclose more when side by side with adults. So if men walk with others they can share, listen and bond more easily. In addition, because walking and swinging opposite arms synch the right and left hemispheres you are more comfortable having conversations. (My rough notes from one of my books discussing this are below.)
  2. When you swing your left arm and the right leg and your right arm and left leg the opposite sides of your body are working together in a cross-body motion that synchs the right and left hemispheres of your brain, stimulating the brain for growth of the neural pathways. Walking with your arms swinging in this manner can increase creativity, and problem-solving and stabilize the central nervous system.

 

I am a professional speaker and coach. When I work with C-suite executives for a full day or over a weekend I walk with them outside to increase their comfort in self-disclosing and help them process and problem-solving. The results of the past 20 years have been amazing. I also use walking/coaching to help my clients who are on the spectrum. I am blessed to live a few houses from a path through the woods over and by creaks that go on for many miles and all the nature has an additional benefit.

 

 

Notes

The central window is the window at the middle of your chest that I call the heart window. Children start changing how they orient their hearts and the rest of their bodies to others at about the age of five. Boys begin playing with their buddies side by side and battling face-to-face and little girls begin playing face-to-face. The theory is that girls are nurtured and rewarded for reading and understanding body language so they can eventually nurture preverbal babies and little boys begin competing and jocking for who is going to be the most powerful in a situation at this age.

When men sit across a table a counter or a desk facing another man and their heart windows are open and unprotected it can cause them to feel uncomfortable and awakens their primal fears of danger. Men feel that in that vulnerable position, they must battle, and in a business interaction that leads to disagreements, defensiveness, ego battles, and verbal attacks. Because of this primal warring position even little boys will move their chairs and work to sit and stand side by side. In that position, their heart is protected and they feel that the man beside them physically is also symbolically on their side. Men feel so much safer that they will self-disclose more and communicate more effectively in a side-by-side or catty corner position than from the more opposition-causing male face-to-face position. Women are wired and socialized to speak positioned face to face. This helps them to create and nurture relationships. In a face-to-face position, they can see the other entire person's body language and respond accordingly. Again, men prefer to have their hearts protected and be on the "same side" when they talk. For more information on this you can read the chapter on body windows in my book success signals www.PattiWood.net. Go to the products page to o

 



Patti Wood, MA - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at www.PattiWood.net. Check out Patti's website for her new book "SNAP, Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma" at www.snapfirstimpressions.com.