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We’ve all heard the advice that it's good to take a walk for your mental health, but what about taking a joywalk?

Walking releases endorphins, hormones that decrease stress and promote happiness, and going for walks regularly has even been shown to reduce symptoms of clinical anxiety and depression (Xu et al., 2024).

For librarian, educator, and children’s book author John Schu, walking becomes joyful when combined with two other well-studied mental health practices—mindfulness and gratitude. Together, they form the practice of joywalking.

Schu shares the story of joywalking in his latest picture book, Lily-May’s Joyful Day, and encourages readers of all ages to find joy in taking a walk with a grateful heart.

Q: In your book, Lily-May introduces the concept of joywalking to her classmates. What is a joywalk, and how can families benefit from this practice? How might joywalking promote better mental health for children?

John Schu: I’ve been trying to write a story about joywalking since 2017, but every attempt turned into a different story. I realized I was trying too hard. I was forcing the idea instead of letting the story find me and talk to me in an authentic way.

I finally “cracked the code” during a joywalk in New York City, when I walked past the Bethesda Fountain in Central Park. At the top of the fountain sits the........

© Psychology Today