Trust your body

For clinicians, it fits well with modern pain management approaches: graded activity, building confidence, and supporting self-management. Using poles helps share load through the upper body, often reducing stress on hips, knees and the lower back, while still allowing people to work at a meaningful cardiovascular level. Many people report that it feels easier than normal walking, even though they are doing more. An important factor in creating positive, reinforcing movement experiences.

For patients, the benefits are often immediate. The poles provide stability and rhythm, helping people feel safer and more supported. This can be particularly valuable where fear of movement is a barrier.

Nordic walking offers a way to reintroduce movement in a way that feels achievable, enjoyable, and crucially positive. It’s also accessible, outdoors, and social, which all support long-term engagement.

In Wales, this approach is already being put into practice. The NHS all Wales Persistent Pain team have supported the training of Nordic Walking Instructors across the country. Within Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, the Live Well Service actively uses nordic walking as part of its pain management pathways, helping people build confidence and re-engage with activity.

My own journey into this work is personal. In my early twenties I lived with severe, recurring back pain following spinal surgery, and for years it shaped what I believed my body was capable of. Movement, alongside a growing understanding of pain science, became the turning point. Over time, I rebuilt strength, confidence and trust in my body, and Nordic Walking was a big part of this journey. Now at nearly 60, I’m active, pain-free, and passionate about helping others do the same. This lived experience, alongside a Professional Certificate in Pain Sciences from the University of South Australia, underpins my approach: combining evidence, movement, and hope.

For those interested in delivering Nordic walking within community or clinical settings, British Nordic Walking offers structured training and certification pathways. This helps ensure instructors are equipped to teach safely, adapt sessions for people with pain, and support long-term behaviour change.

As with any intervention, how it’s delivered matters. Good technique, appropriate progression, and individualisation are key. Done well, Nordic walking becomes more than exercise, it’s a bridge back to movement, independence, and everyday life.

All images in this article © INWA

Karen (centre) with one of her nordic walking groups

Karen Ingram is an INWA International Nordic Walking Trainer and part of the British Nordic Walking teaching team. She has a Professional Certificate in Pain Sciences and has taught movement for over 25 years. She co-founded her company www.nordicwalk.store. For more information on Nordic Walking visit www.britishnordicwalking.org.uk