The POWER of walking

From overcoming tragedy to personal challenges, three women tell us how putting one foot in front of another has changed their lives

- KIM WILLIS

Spring is here and with The Salt Path, starring Gillian Anderson, hitting our screens on 25 April, we're celebrating the transformative effects of walking. Based on Raynor Winn's bestselling memoir, the film charts how she and her husband - facing homelessness and his terminal diagnosis - set out to walk the 630-mile South West Coast Path.

'Psychologists think when we physically move away from something, we leave it behind emotionally as much as geographically,' explains Annabel Streets, author of The Walking Cure (£14.99, HB, Bloomsbury). And once we're walking, our muscles produce chemicals that can affect our cognition and alter our mood too.

The therapeutic effects of walking will come as no surprise to these three intrepid women, who share the reasons behind their special walks.

I KNEW I COULD NEVER RETURN TO CONVENTIONAL LIFE"

Linzi Bell, 47, spent 298 days last year walking the British coastline to inspire people to feel the benefits of being outdoors. She lives with her children Mary, 23, and Max, 22, in Colchester.

During 2019 I found myself working 100-hour weeks with my interior design company. Then the pandemic hit and pushed a giant pause button in my life, providing me with a window of reflection. I began to walk daily outdoors and was reminded of what was truly important to me: my children, family, friends and the contentment I found when with nature.