Happy Walktober!

Walking is good for you.  In fact, the evidence is beginning to show that it’s GREAT for you!

A half-hour walk can give you a third of the recommended 10,000 steps per day. Add a friendly colleague and you’ve got an easy, free activity that is beneficial for your stress relief and overall emotional well-being. The psychological benefits of daily walking trips appear so significant that active commuters are thought to be happier, more focused workers.

Vancouver Coastal Health and the EFAP/“Taking Care of Me” series have chosen this year’s Walktober to launch WednesdayWALK. Walktober is a month-long celebration of the joys and benefits of walking. It began in Australia almost a decade ago, and it’s a friendly, fun fitness break in your day. (Joining us once a week will be the daily Walk the Walk program of BCDiabetes.ca/walk.)

WednesdayWALK will ‘kick off’ on Wednesday, October 1, from the VGH Commuter Centre. Everyone is welcome. Bring a friend or expand your (face-to-face) social network and get over hump day with a friendly stroll within the VGH neighbourhood.

Meet us at 12:10pm to say Hi and fill your travel mug with coffee or water. Then take your feet to the street from 12:15 to 12:45pm. Yes, we will have FREE coffee for participants during Walktober.

WednesdayWALK takes place rain or shine. Loaner umbrellas will be available from the VGH Commuter Centre (JPP 1st floor behind the Info Desk).

Please direct any questions, and RSVP, to Arthur Orsini, active transportation facilitator, via email or at 778-869-6461 (see contact info below).

See “Want to Be Happier? Try Walking Even Part of the Way to Work” for a related article from the Atlantic CityLab.