Support Your Natural Health Service

Breathe deeply and restore your equilibrium with this walk through history to mainland Britain’s most southerly point

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The physical health benefits of walking:

Improves heart health, lung capacity and circulation

Reduces the risk of chronic diseases like Type 2 diabetes, cancer, heart disease and dementia

Improves flexibility and strengthens joints, bones and muscle

Boosts the immune system and improves digestion

Aids weight loss

The mental health benefits of walking

Improves self-esteem and mood

Reduces anxiety, stress and fatigue

Helps improve sleep quality

Reduces risk of depression

In the midst of a global health pandemic, equity of access to the great outdoors in order to support our physical and mental wellbeing has come into sharp focus. A new survey reveals that many of us have been looking to the coast path for help to get through the challenge of lockdown.

Research shows spending time outdoors in nature has huge potential to improve our physical and mental health: reducing stress and anxiety, lowering blood pressure, increasing cardiovascular health and improving mood. There are many health benefits that come from combining walking, with spending time in green spaces and being next to water – three things the South West Coast Path offers. However, as a nation we’re not walking enough and physical inactivity in the UK could be costing the economy as much as £20 billion a year. But could our environment have the answer?