When I suggest doing your cardio—whether it’s walking, running, hiking, or biking—outside instead of on a stationary machine, it’s not just for the fresh air or the change of scenery. It’s about supporting your body’s innate design for moving through space, and especially how your visual system is meant to work in harmony with your body and breath.
One of the key elements behind this recommendation is something called optic flow.
Optic flow is the natural visual experience your brain receives when your environment moves relative to your body. Think of trees passing by as you walk, or the subtle shifts of light and depth when you run through a park. This movement gives your brain critical information about speed, direction, balance, and orientation. It’s a big part of how we stabilize, move efficiently, and even breathe more freely.
When we train indoors—on a treadmill, bike, or stair-stepper—and especially when watching a screen, we lose optic flow. The world doesn’t move around us; our environment is static. Our vision narrows into central focus, locking onto a phone, television, or screen. This heavy reliance on foveal (central) vision leads to a visual experience that is disconnected from how our body is trying to move. Our eyes may become "tethered," fixed in place, limiting the natural movement of the eye muscles and reducing the use of peripheral vision.
Over time, this can lead to tension and rigidity in the head and neck. The extraocular muscles—normally responsible for smooth, adaptive eye movement—begin to take on the job of stabilizing the body. This shift can increase muscular effort in the jaw, neck, shoulders, and upper spine, all of which directly affect how the voice functions and feels.
There is a powerful and reciprocal relationship between the body and vision. The ability to rotate the body fully—into one or both sides—is tied to our brain’s sense of visual mapping and spatial awareness. When we lose physical rotation, we often see a mirrored loss in peripheral vision. And when peripheral awareness fades on one side, it can further restrict how the body organizes movement. This is a common topic in somatic practices, neuromotor therapy, and vision-performance work. The body affects vision, and vision affects the body.
This is why I include visual training—especially peripheral vision work—with so many of my singers and voice clients. Neck, jaw, and breath coordination are directly influenced by where and how the eyes are working. Tension in the head and face, including the extraocular muscles, can limit laryngeal mobility and make vocal expression feel constrained or effortful. But when the eyes are soft, spacious, and moving freely—especially when peripheral awareness is restored—breath moves more naturally, the body feels more grounded, and the voice often becomes more open, resonant, and adaptable.
Taking your movement outdoors doesn’t automatically restore all of these systems—but it’s an incredibly helpful step. It reintroduces your body and brain to a richer sensory environment, encourages natural optic flow, and supports peripheral awareness in ways that stationary indoor training simply can’t. While deeper nervous system and visual-motor integration work may still be needed, outdoor movement can be a powerful and accessible way to start reawakening these patterns—supporting your posture, your breath, and your voice.
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