How to get closer to someone as a friend, partner or family member? Take a walk with them
A friend once remarked, in the aftermath of her husband's death: 'I wish the people who offered to go on a walk with me would.'
Perhaps they failed to come good on those offers because they worried they would not know what to say.
They need not have worried. Had they joined her in a walk, they would have both enjoyed the
health benefits that flow from being active – and may have found that conversation flowed easily, too.
A simple way to get closer to someone, or to a group of people, is to go for a walk – or do another physical activity together.
Shared experiences help individuals connect on a symbolic level, one expert says. Photo: Shutterstock
One study found that walking together strengthens social attachment, so people are more likely to cooperate with one another despite differences between them.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
6 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
US vaccine sceptics are now in charge. That's bad news for the world
When US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jnr removed the vaccine advisory panel of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), he framed it as a move for the 'restoration of public trust'. But the implications stretch far beyond domestic politics. In dismantling one of the world's most respected sources of vaccine expertise, the United States is not just undermining its public health, it is ceding global scientific authority to China. Trump's elevation of figures like Pete Hegseth Tulsi Gabbard and Kash Patel made clear his second term would test the limits of mainstream thought. But Kennedy is the president's magnum opus. This is not some well-meaning reformer with unorthodox ideas, let loose to fix a broken health system. He is the embodiment of conspiracy masquerading as policy – an ideologue entrusted with the machinery of American public health. Kennedy has hand-picked eight replacements, including vaccine critics such as Vicky Pebsworth, who has served on the board of America's oldest anti-vaccine group. There is a trend here: Kennedy has promoted ideas so unhinged they barely warrant rebuttal. He claimed Wi-fi can cause cancer, compared US vaccine mandates to Nazi Germany's authoritarianism, mused that Covid-19 might have been ethnically targeted and posited that HIV does not cause Aids . If one tried to distil the collective fever dream ravings of a Reddit thread into human form, you'd get RFK Jnr. The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunisation Practices has for decades been the gold standard for vaccine guidance – not merely for the US, but for the world. Its members are not political appointees but independent epidemiologists and immunologists with no obvious axe to grind, other than preventing disease and saving lives. To replace them with well-known sceptics is a purge, executed not in the name of transparency or science, but of ideology.
South China Morning Post
15 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
How to get closer to someone as a friend, partner or family member? Take a walk with them
A friend once remarked, in the aftermath of her husband's death: 'I wish the people who offered to go on a walk with me would.' Perhaps they failed to come good on those offers because they worried they would not know what to say. They need not have worried. Had they joined her in a walk, they would have both enjoyed the health benefits that flow from being active – and may have found that conversation flowed easily, too. A simple way to get closer to someone, or to a group of people, is to go for a walk – or do another physical activity together. Shared experiences help individuals connect on a symbolic level, one expert says. Photo: Shutterstock One study found that walking together strengthens social attachment, so people are more likely to cooperate with one another despite differences between them.
South China Morning Post
a day ago
- South China Morning Post
Should you sleep with your dog or cat? Experts weigh up the pros and cons
It turns out that our furry best friend might also be our sleep enemy. Advertisement Lots of pet owners let their animals sleep on the bed with them, which usually disrupts rest. But many would say it is worth it. Researchers do not necessarily agree. Melissa Milanak, an associate professor at the Medical University of South Carolina in the United States who specialises in sleep health, says most people at her clinic say their pets often disturb them at night. 'You can't say that, hands down, it's bad for every single person, but there is a lot out there saying it negatively impacts your sleep,' she says. Pet owners may be less inclined to report problems when surveyed because they do not believe their beloved pets cause problems. Photo: Shutterstock
