An author, an illustrator and a kinesiologist go for a walk. No setup, no punchline, just revelations.

In the big menu of exercise options, walking seems to get overlooked. Maybe it’s too simple, slow or low-impact. But according to a trio of voices – speaking to the activity of walking as an exercise, as a soulful journey, and as a mode of investigation – it reaps deep rewards all around.

The ease of walking is one of its strong suits, according to Ryan Luke, associate professor in kinesiology (the science of human movement) at CSUMB.

He says that all exercise, including walking, is a stress that forces the body to adapt to similar stress in the future. Walking is an aerobic exercise that can prevent or manage heart disease, high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes, fortify the skeletal system and improve lung function, control weight and brighten moods. And it’s free and easy.

“We try to push that exercise is inclusive,” Luke says. “If someone’s had an injury, or is obese, walking is really accessible. A ‘gateway exercise.’”

Mayo Clinic recommends doing it with head up, relaxed neck and shoulders, arms swinging, back straight, stomach firm and smooth steps that roll from heel to toe.

Luke says, “The American College of Sports Medicine recommendation is 30 minutes a day, five days a week. That can be broken up into three 10-minute bouts a day [for] the same benefit.”

Or do it for the gains in creativity and spiritual energy.

That’s what poet Patrice Vecchione does. Based in Del Rey Oaks, she’s authored a book calledStep Into Nature: Nurturing, Imagination and Spirit in Everyday Life, and writes a monthly column in the Monterey Herald on the soulful dimensions of walking.

“Endorphins are my drug,” she says. “We live in pretty contained spaces. There are windows but that’s not the same as air. When you’re out in the environment of natural things – bushes, trees and otherwise – there’s a sense of being in the presence of infinity, a feeling of expansiveness.”

All you need, she says, is good walking shoes, a wide-brimmed hat, and water.

But to access the intellectual curiosity, community connection, and civic engagement of walking, some people contend that you don’t even need nature.

Author/illustrator Kate Pocrass’ created a graphical and fun-looking travel journal called Side Walks: A Journal for Exploring Your City.

“Your front door is your starting place,” Pocrass writes. She uses drawings as charming and precise as emojis to illustrate the suggestions in her book, like a drawing of a penny with the caption “Spontaneity (always have a coin to flip).”

“I wanted the book to be illustrated in a way that would be accessible to adults, adults with kids, or kids alone,” she says.

There are checklists and empty pages for the reader/explorer to write or draw on, like a children’s activity book. You can accept or decline some of the more whimsical activities. But the exploration of the urban landscape is an adventure that adds color, depth and understanding to a neighborhood or town; it can awaken the consciousness to that most important of places: your home.