Practise Afghan walking: your guide to enjoying its benefits

Afghan walking improves endurance, heart rate, relaxation, breathing... Learn how to do it and enjoy its 10 benefits

Does Afghan walking mean anything to you? Also called "yoga walking", "meditative walking" or "conscious walking", this technique is a cross between two practices: sport and breathing. And we’re telling you about it because it has numerous benefits for body and mind. Better endurance, slows down the feeling of fatigue, relaxation, toning the muscles... We’ll tell you everything about this technique that combines walking and breathing: its 10 benefits, how to do it, where and when. Put on your trainers and let's go!

Why practise Afghan walking?

Does the concept of "Afghan walking" seem a bit vague to you? Let's break it down! First: "walking", simply because this technique is performed while walking (easy 😅). One foot in front of the other - so far, so good. So then," Afghan" ? Here’s where things get complicated. We owe this name to the French economist Edouard Stiegler, who during an economic mission to Afghanistan in the 80s, observed the walking method used by nomadic tribes in the desert. He noticed they could walk hundreds of kilometres over several days, without seeming to get tired. Trying to understand their secret, beyond good physical condition and bodies accustomed to daily effort, he realised that the nomads synchronised their breathing and the rhythm of their steps. Returning to Europe, Edouard Stiegler wanted to share this method and called it "Afghan walking".

And that's it for our culture minute! So this method is based on physical and respiratory movement. The principle? Adopt conscious breathing to match your steps. More than just a way of hiking in nature, it’s a state of mind which combines the benefits of walking and those of cardiac coherence (controlling your breathing). Because on a daily basis, we breathe rather irregularly and superficially: we breathe in and out via the thorax. With Afghan walking, the aim is to seek deep, ventral breathing, to achieve better pulmonary amplitude. But that’s not all!

It's not for nothing that Edouard Stiegler book on the subject is called Regeneration through Afghan Walking - Breathing to Promote your Health. When you practise this technique, you provide better oxygenation for your body and get it moving, which has positive effects on your physical and mental health. Here is a list of the 10 main benefits of this method.

1- Develop your breathing capacity, in particular by strengthening your diaphragm, an essential muscle, and encouraging deeper breathing than usual.

2- Gain endurance and slow down your feeling of fatigue to go further, longer and/or faster when making an effort.

3- Improve your heart rate and look after your heart.

4- Stimulate your blood and lymphatic circulation.

5- Rebalance your body posture: the back gradually straightens and the shoulders open.

6- Tone your muscles, especially the inner muscles.

7- Improve your base metabolism and eliminate toxins.

8- Help reduce stress and anxiety, thanks to a combination of three factors that promote calm: cardiac coherence, walking and the surrounding nature.

9- Improve creativity and concentration.

10- Tend towards a state of full awareness close to meditation.

How to learn Afghan walking?

Now that you’re convinced of the benefits of Afghan walking, let's move on to practice! So how do you do it, exactly? First, we recommend you learn the basic breathing rhythm, then follow our three special tips "for beginners", and finally, adapt your Afghan walking to the elevation gain that’s appropriate to you.

How to breathe with Afghan walking?

The rhythm of your walking depends on that of your breathing: the idea is to synchronise your steps and your breathing. The basic rhythm is as follows: "3-1-3-1". In other words:

- 3 steps to breathe in through the nose
- 1 step to hold in the air
- 3 steps to breathe out through the nose
- 1 step to lock out the air.

And you start again! You can do it in two ways, depending on what seems easiest and most comfortable for you. Option 1, continuous mode: inhale uninterrupted for 3 steps, hold for 1 step, exhale uninterrupted for 3 steps, lock out for 1 step. Option 2, fragmented mode: inhale 3 times for 3 steps, hold for 1 step, exhale 3 times for 3 steps, lock out for 1 step. If you have trouble matching your nasal breathing to your walking, try slowing down your steps and take time to assimilate the technique. Have you mastered the basic rhythm? Feel free to try out variations of "4-1-5-1" or "4-1-6-1" alternately. If you feel you’re struggling, go back to "3-1-3-1".

Our 3 tips for successful Afghan walking

At first, it can be a bit difficult to think of everything: counting your number of steps, breathing only through your nose, coordinating the two... But don't give up! Several attempts are required to help your brain and body understand and automate this technique. And to get off to a good start and put yourself in the best condition for learning, we have a few tips!

Start this activity on your own, so that you can focus solely on yourself and how you’re feeling. This way, you’ll avoid distractions and loss of concentration.
Make your first attempts on a flat, familiar path. You’ll have plenty to think about when learning this technique. By practising on a path you already know with no slope, you’ll avoid additional things to think about.
Slow down the pace if you feel you’re short of air. Don't panic, that’s normal at first: we’re used to inhaling and exhaling through our mouths. This is just a bit difficult when getting started. To help your body understand everything is fine, walk more slowly.

Practise Afghan walking: your guide to enjoying its benefits

Whether going downhill or uphill, the basic rhythm of Afghan walking, "3-1-3-1", isn’t always adapted to the needs of your body and heart. When going uphill, use a shorter rhythm such as "3-0-3-0", the zeros corresponding to non-breathing times. In concrete terms : inhale for 3 steps and exhale straight away for the next 3. If the effort increases, go to "2-0-2-0" to avoid an accelerated heart rate. When going downhill, we recommend you lengthen your exhalation time while not holding your breath, with a "2-0-4-0" rhythm, for example.

Do you want to enjoy a moment focused on relaxation and unwinding? During your yoga walking, extend the duration of your exhalation, with a "4-0-6-0" rhythm, for example. Conversely, if you want to regain more dynamism and energy, simply reduce exhalation with a "4-0-2-0".

Where and when to do Afghan walking?

Wherever and whenever you want! Or rather, wherever and whenever you can walk and concentrate on yourself, being fully aware of your movements. You can start by walking on paths near your home, then try it on a daily journey: between home and work, picking up the kids from school, going to the library, etc. The next level? Do your next nature hike, out in the forest or up in the mountains, for example, using this technique. Once you’ve mastered Afghan walking, you can enjoy its advantages during more intense effort, to go higher and further without having to worry about fatigue management. Have you become a pro yet? You can definitely use this method for other sports activities: ski touring, mountain biking, running... As long as you synchronise your breathing with your movements, it works! 😁

FAQs - Everything you need to know about Afghan walking

Should you breathe through your nose or mouth when Afghan walking?

You should breathe in and out only through your nose! Why? Because nasal breathing provides more oxygen to the body and filters outside air better than your mouth. It’s also a good temperature regulator. It’s for all these reasons that nasal breathing is also recommended in yoga.

Can you talk while doing Afghan walking?

If there’s one thing this activity makes difficult, if not impossible, it’s chatting with your walking partner. Sorry, chatterboxes! 🙊 Do you still want to share this activity with others? Build in breaks to talk about your respective feelingsalong the way and admire the landscape.

How to do active walking?

Active or "fast walking" also requires special training to enjoy all its benefits. Posture, arm movements, foot roll... We’ll tell you everything in our special article!

Fast walking: how to learn how to go at the right pace?

You now know everything you need to be able to do Afghan walking! Much more than a simple walking method, it’s a key to greater well-being and balance, with full awareness. Synchronising your breathing with your steps is beneficial for the health of your heart, body and mind. By taking the time to breathe deeply, we use our lung capacity more, and more effectively. And once you’ve mastered the basic rhythm, you may find yourself doing this technique without even thinking about it, every day. So, three cheers for regeneration through Afghan walking!

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Practise Afghan walking: your guide to enjoying its benefits

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