{"id":319150,"date":"2026-02-04T03:52:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T03:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/319150\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T03:52:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T03:52:08","slug":"how-walking-in-hong-kong-is-helping-with-cancer-recovery-and-mental-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/319150\/","title":{"rendered":"How walking in Hong Kong is helping with cancer recovery and mental health"},"content":{"rendered":"<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">In a city obsessed with efficiency, optimisation and results, walking has rarely been focused on as a health intervention. Yet across Hong Kong, a quiet reframing is taking place. Increasingly, it is being described not as light exercise or leisure, but as a form of everyday medicine, one that supports mental health, recovery from illness and ageing well, without injury or pressure.<\/p>\n<p>Stephanie Lown, founder of hiking group <a target=\"_self\" class=\"e1yy41x40 ef9u0v01 css-1ankfgb ecgc78b0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/magazines\/post-magazine\/short-reads\/article\/3210396\/take-your-dog-hiking-hong-kong-and-raise-money-animal-charities-exploring-dogs?module=inline&amp;pgtype=article\" title=\"\" data-qa=\"BaseLink-renderAnchor-StyledAnchor\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Exploring Dogs<\/a>, says walking offers a rare combination of movement, nature, routine and connection.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">\u201cPeople often overextend themselves trying to do too much, too soon, especially in fast-paced cities,\u201d she says. \u201cWalking allows you to show up consistently over long periods of time without injury or burnout.\u201d<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">This gentle shift is increasingly backed by research emerging from Hong Kong and mainland China, which suggests that walking, particularly when done regularly and in nature, may offer psychological and physical benefits that more intense exercise does not always deliver.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Stephanie Lown is seen on a walk with her dogs and other members from Exploring Dogs. Photo: Stephanie Lown\" data-qa=\"BaseImage-handleRenderImage-StyledImage\" class=\"e1gf69pb2 css-6ikqhs e445x7d0\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/9c5f5725-0d22-4837-b7f2-1399fe6ea745_00410fb3.jpg\" title=\"Stephanie Lown is seen on a walk with her dogs and other members from Exploring Dogs. Photo: Stephanie Lown\"\/>Stephanie Lown is seen on a walk with her dogs and other members from Exploring Dogs. Photo: Stephanie LownA 2025 pilot study led by the University of Hong Kong and published in the International Journal of Environmental Health Research found that regular walking was associated with reduced psychological distress, <a target=\"_self\" class=\"e1yy41x40 ef9u0v01 css-1ankfgb ecgc78b0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/lifestyle\/health-wellness\/article\/3315856\/how-build-resilience-help-you-deal-change-stress-and-grief?module=inline&amp;pgtype=article\" title=\"\" data-qa=\"BaseLink-renderAnchor-StyledAnchor\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">improved resilience<\/a>, greater <a target=\"_self\" class=\"e1yy41x40 ef9u0v01 css-1ankfgb ecgc78b0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/lifestyle\/health-wellness\/article\/3166924\/down-time-should-you-use-it-mindless-or-mindful-things?module=inline&amp;pgtype=article\" title=\"\" data-qa=\"BaseLink-renderAnchor-StyledAnchor\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">mindful attention<\/a> and <a target=\"_self\" class=\"e1yy41x40 ef9u0v01 css-1ankfgb ecgc78b0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/lifestyle\/health-wellness\/article\/3302077\/dealing-insomnia-common-sense-tips-help-you-fall-asleep-and-get-enough-rest?module=inline&amp;pgtype=article\" title=\"\" data-qa=\"BaseLink-renderAnchor-StyledAnchor\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">better sleep<\/a> quality.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a city obsessed with efficiency, optimisation and results, walking has rarely been focused on as a health&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":319151,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[78],"tags":[154420,4139,2787,110,154425,144022,4144,18,154422,135,19,154424,17,20282,154423,74986,154421,154426,21353,544,154427],"class_list":{"0":"post-319150","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-ageing-well","9":"tag-breast-cancer","10":"tag-burnout","11":"tag-cancer","12":"tag-cancer-survivors","13":"tag-central-china-normal-university","14":"tag-chemotherapy","15":"tag-eire","16":"tag-exploring-dogs-hong-kong","17":"tag-health","18":"tag-ie","19":"tag-international-journal-of-environmental-health-research","20":"tag-ireland","21":"tag-mindfulness","22":"tag-nanchang-institute-of-technology","23":"tag-shanghai-jiao-tong-university","24":"tag-stephanie-lown","25":"tag-trio-beach-trail","26":"tag-university-of-hong-kong","27":"tag-walking","28":"tag-world-cancer-day"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116010335833671651","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=319150"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319150\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/319151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=319150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=319150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=319150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}