Evidence for anxiety , psychological stress , psychological well-being , subjective well-being and social isolation and loneliness varied in volume and effectiveness , but no harmful effects were identified .
The setting and context of walking seems to be important variables .
Background / objectives Walking has well-established positive relationships with , and effects on , physical health .
In contrast , while poor mental health contributes substantially to global health burden , an overview of the benefits from walking has not previously been published .
We aim ed to scope the literature and present what is known , and highlight what is not known , about walking and mental health .
Combining walking and relaxation for stress reduction—A randomized cross‐over trial in healthy adults
Both physical activity and relaxation have stress-relieving potential . This study investigates their combined impact on the relaxation response while considering participants ' initial stress level . In a r and omized cross-over trial , 81 healthy adults completed 4 types of short-term interventions for stress reduction , each lasting for 1 hr : ( 1 ) physical activity ( walking ) combined with resting , ( 2 ) walking combined with balneotherapy , ( 3 ) combined resting and balneotherapy , and ( 4 ) resting only .  Saliva cortisol , blood pressure , state of mood , and relaxation were measured preintervention and postintervention . Stress levels were determined by vali date d question naires . All interventions were associated with relaxation responses in the variables saliva cortisol , blood pressure , state of mood , and subjective relaxation . No significant differences were found regarding the reduction of salivary cortisol ( F = 1.30 ; p = .281 ) . The systolic blood pressure was reduced best when walking was combined with balneotherapy or resting ( F = 7.34 ; p < .001 ) . Participants with high stress levels ( n = 25 ) felt more alert after interventions including balneotherapy , whereas they reported an increase of tiredness when walking was combined with resting ( F = 3.20 ; p = .044 ) . Results suggest that combining physical activity and relaxation ( resting or balneotherapy ) is an advantageous short-term strategy for stress reduction as systolic blood pressure is reduced best while similar levels of relaxation can be obtained
Evidence for anxiety , psychological stress , psychological well-being , subjective well-being and social isolation and loneliness varied in volume and effectiveness , but no harmful effects were identified .
The setting and context of walking seems to be important variables .
Background / objectives Walking has well-established positive relationships with , and effects on , physical health .
In contrast , while poor mental health contributes substantially to global health burden , an overview of the benefits from walking has not previously been published .
We aim ed to scope the literature and present what is known , and highlight what is not known , about walking and mental health .