Walking therapy is making strides. What it is and why it’s good for mental and physical health

By Deborah Vankin Walking is my salvation. Vigorous solo walks through Griffith Park in Los Angeles are both my go-to exercise and meditations in motion. I regularly “walk the day off” there, or stroll around the city’s Silver Lake Reservoir after work to unwind. I do not listen to music or podcasts or even the news. Instead, I tune into my rhythmic footsteps and the medley of background noise: squawking birds, yapping passers-by, whooshing traffic. It’s soothing. But when a family member’s...