The “color walk” is one of the latest walking and mindfulness trends. While it started gaining traction on TikTok in 2021, it’s still around in full force and has even recently spread to Instagram.
Seeing all of the videos online lately inspired me to give it a try—and I’ll take any excuse to get moving and get outside, especially in the winter when I need that extra motivation.
Want to give a color walk a try yourself? Keep scrolling to learn more about what it is, its benefits, and how to do it. You’ll be glad you did.
What is a color walk?
The color walk is a form of walking meditation, where you pick a color right at the start of your walk and notice that color in your environment during your walk. For example, if your color is yellow, you might notice a yellow yield sign on the road, some daffodils in your neighbor’s yard, or a stranger’s sweater. The task allows you to pay attention to your surroundings and push you to be present in the moment.
“This is one of the first TikTok trends I can get behind—it makes perfect sense,” says Supatra Tovar, PsyD, a clinical psychologist and owner of Dr. Supatra Tovar & Associates. “What it actually does, which is beautiful, is keep your mind completely on the present moment.”
The benefits of doing a color walk
But what’s the benefit of doing this version of a walking meditation, instead of sitting in the comfort of your own home doing an online meditation? Dr. Tovar says the benefit is in the movement. “When we move our bodies, especially when we’re doing it in a stress-free kind of way, we’re releasing endorphins,” she says. “You can also get that from sitting or lying down and doing meditation, but there’s the extra benefit to using your muscles as well.”
And we certainly want those endorphins—aka feel-good chemicals that make us feel relaxed—so why not get some time outside while doing it? Especially in those darker, and colder months, it’s important to go outside and get some vitamin D—getting your body moving is an added perk.
“What it actually does, which is beautiful, is keep your mind completely on the present moment.” —Supatra Tovar, PsyD
Bridget Campbell, a lifestyle and wellness content creator, helped popularize the trend by documenting her color walks on TikTok. Campbell has been sharing her journey doing color walks on her social media pages to inspire others to take the time to try the exercise and encourage others to practice mindfulness.
“While it’s an aesthetically pleasing and fun exercise, I also really felt my body physically calming down and being able to fully be in the present moment,” Campbell says. “I felt so grounded, so I wanted to share it with my followers and have had such a wonderful response from people trying it themselves.”
How to do a color walk—and my own experience giving it a try
As someone who has attempted many forms of mindfulness and meditation, I always found myself having difficulty with how stagnant it can feel sitting on my couch with my eyes closed. On my first day of doing a color walk, I chose the color pink and thought it would be a bit of a challenge—just how many times in nature could I truly find the color pink? Turns out, it’s a lot more prevalent than one would think. I found myself really taking the time to look in the trees, the details in my neighborhood, and the cars passing by.
While my practice wasn’t completely seamless, I felt present in the moment and noticed I was feeling more relaxed in my body—my shoulders weren’t tense, my jaw wasn’t locked, and I was moving at a slower pace. I even got to spend 30 minutes of my day being active and moving my body. Plus, the world is so much more colorful than we might think, even if you live in a city.
“While it’s an aesthetically pleasing and fun exercise, I also really felt my body physically calming down.” —Bridget Campbell, content creator
The next few times I did a color walk, I chose new colors and found myself excited to try different ones. Even while I was walking to my local coffee shop, I picked out the color blue on my way, without having the initial intention of doing a color walk. It reminded me of when I was a kid and would play “I Spy” with my siblings. I spy something yellow… is the original mindfulness activity where I would take the time to notice everything in the environment and truly focus on that task.
There are other variations on this mindfulness activity—you can spend your walk noticing small acts of kindness if you live in a busy city, for instance. Dr. Tovar even says she practices a similar exercise on her daily commute, speaking the things she notices out loud on her drive. As someone who has struggled in the past with meditation and staying fully present, this was a fun way to implement mindfulness in a new way.
If you’re struggling with a color walk, Dr. Tovar suggests starting small. “Set your watch for one minute, just one minute, and as you’re walking, all you’re doing for that one minute is picking out that color,” she says. “That gets you into the practice. Let that be enough.” And it’s important that you compliment yourself for doing it because that positive reinforcement is vital to adopting new behaviors.
So, if you need a break from the holiday antics or are looking to add mindfulness to your New Year’s resolutions, try a color walk. I highly recommend this to mindfulness beginners—you can even think of it as a game of “I Spy.”
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