The Gentle Magic of Walking
Some days, I walk just to move the bones around. Other days, I walk because something in me is tangled, and the only way to loosen the knot is to take it outside. I don’t need a reason most mornings. I lace up, step out, and let the rhythm do its thing.
Walking, it turns out, is a kind of gentle magic. Not flashy, not loud, just step after step after step, and before you know it, you’re feeling better. The cobwebs clear. The clouds part a little. There’s more space inside.
It’s medicine, real medicine. For the muscles, yes, but also for the swirl of thoughts upstairs. When I walk, I think better. Or sometimes I don’t think at all, which is its own kind of gift. The body remembers how to move forward, and the brain says, “Ahh, thank you.” Ideas arrive uninvited, solutions wave from the sidewalk. A twenty-minute wander can do what hours at a desk can’t. No prescription needed, just shoes and a little curiosity.
I like to think walking draws a map of who we are. Every path I’ve taken, every trail or city block, leaves a little mark. Not just on the ground, but on me. A catalog of moments. The time I cried while walking through the fog. The time I danced down the street after good news. These steps tell the story of my days, my moods, my seasons. Where we walk becomes a record of where we’ve been and what mattered.
It’s a spirit thing, too. I don’t mean in a woo-woo way. I mean in that deep, grounded, slightly mischievous way that reminds you you’re alive. That you belong to this world. That the wind is your friend and the sun knows your name. Walking lets the soul catch up. It’s where wonder lives, just around the next bend or under the leaves. You start out thinking you’re going for a stroll and end up meeting yourself again.
So yes, it’s movement. But it’s also mapping. Healing. Remembering. It’s a ceremony disguised as a morning walk. No fancy gear required. Just start. And then keep going. The sidewalk is waiting. The trail already knows your name.
Libby DeLana is an award-winning executive creative director, designer/art director by trade, who has spent her career in the ad world. Click here to get your copy of Libby’s first published book, Do Walk. Libby's second book, Cold Joy, will be available on Oct. 14, 2025—pre-order your copy now. You can connect with Libby on Instagram @thismorningwalk and @parkhere.