YouAsk Kim
A woman in a seated twist on a green mat in a sunlit room, an olive tree and the sea behind her

Move · 20 min

Take the call walking

The next long phone call, put on a coat and take it outside, or walk up and down the hall. Talking is easier on the move.

20 minutesFrom the library, free to readFour steps
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Many of us spend hours a week on the phone, sitting still: catching up with family, waiting on hold, sorting things out. Some of those calls can be walks. You get the talk and the movement in the same twenty minutes.

The steps

Four small steps,in your own time.

  1. Pick one call this week that does not need a screen or a pen: a regular catch-up with a friend or relative is ideal.

  2. Before it starts, put on comfortable shoes and, if you will be outside, a coat. Use earphones or hold the phone at your ear.

  3. Walk a simple loop you know, or up and down the hall or garden, at an easy pace that still lets you talk.

  4. When the call ends, notice how far you went and how you feel. Make the same call a walking one next time.

The reason

Why it helps

Walking is one of the most useful kinds of movement there is, and the hardest part is often finding the time. Joining it to something you already do takes that problem away. Many people also find conversation flows more easily side by side or on the move than sitting face to face.

A gentle variation

If going out is not possible, walk around the house while you talk, or stand and march gently on the spot. If walking and talking at once is tiring, walk for the first ten minutes only and sit for the rest.

Friends resting after a game, the sea behind them

WE · TRIBE

Try itwith someone.

Suggest the other person walks too, wherever they are. Two people walking and talking in different places is a small, regular way to keep each other moving.

Make it a plan in HIVELIVE, with WE

Try it today

This week, take one long phone call on the move: outside on a familiar loop, or up and down the hall.

Add it to your day

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