This Walk Will Change You

Published by Rise Books
Distributed by Simon & Schuster

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About the Book

A memoir of one family’s journey along the Camino de Santiago, illuminating the science, history, and enduring human instinct behind long-distance walking—and why it has the power to change us.

When Lauren Duke sets out to walk the Camino de Santiago with her family, she is searching for a connection that has always felt just beyond reach. Years of unspoken trauma have shaped the patterns between them—but as the miles unfold, she begins to wonder whether those patterns can change.

Across 500 miles of ancient pilgrimage routes, the family moves through changing landscapes, long days, and the quiet discipline of putting one foot in front of the other. Along the way, Duke begins to explore a deeper question: why does walking—especially over long distances—have such a powerful effect on the human mind and body?

Interweaving her family’s experience with research in neuroscience, psychology, physiology, and the history of pilgrimage, she traces how sustained movement regulates the nervous system, sharpens attention, and opens space for reflection. Over time, she comes to see that long-distance walking does more than provide clarity—it offers a form of narrative reorganization, allowing us to revisit old stories and respond to them differently. Through walking, we not only change our relationships with others but also with ourselves.

The insight is both simple and hard-won: we cannot change the people in our lives, but maybe we can change the patterns we carry into those relationships. The Camino becomes not just a physical journey, but a lived experiment in how change actually happens—slowly, repetitively, and through the body.

At once personal and expansive, often humorous and deeply reflective, This Walk Will Change You offers a new understanding of why we walk—and what becomes possible when we go the distance.

About the Author

Lauren Dollie Duke is an author, educator, entrepreneur, and speaker whose work explores the intersection of movement, trauma, resilience, and human connection. With a master’s degree in psychology and more than two decades of experience teaching yoga, Pilates, Somatics, and Mind-Body medicine, she has devoted her life to helping people understand the body as a source of healing, memory, and transformation.

Her first book, Sh!thouse, examined family, dysfunction, and the chaos we inherit. Her second, This Walk Will Change You, follows the healing power of long distance walking and the messy, meaningful work of repairing family bonds. Her work has also informed her graduate research on walking and resilience and her 2025 TEDx talk, “What Are You Willing to Walk 500 Miles For?”

Product Details

  • Publisher: Rise Books (November 10, 2026)
  • Length: 304 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781959524243

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Raves and Reviews

“Lauren Duke really gets what all those miles can do. They wear down our defenses, bring the truth to the surface, and sometimes help us find our way back to the people we love, maybe even the ones we’ve been avoiding. This is a book about walking, sure, but it’s really about what can happen between us when we just keep moving forward together.”

– Rich Roll, Bestselling author of Finding Ultra and host of The Rich Roll Podcast

"Walking is medicinal. As the apothecary of stroll, Lauren Duke's writing walks away with your heart. She toes the line between growth, scorched earth and resurrection. Be an eyewitness to the inner workings of her family drama, complete with hairpin twists and drunk blind turns - a literal rocky path on a perilous pilgrimage.  In this memoir that blends science, psychology and the raw carcass of sibling dynamics, this family uses walking as a medication to heal their very complicated love."

 

– Jill Miller, author of Body by Breath and The Roll Model

"Read this and then start walking! A voice we all need right now,  Lauren Duke is a worthy and trusted guide as we  search for some semblance of sanity in present times. She finds humor in the dysfunctional aspects of life while providing the insights to overcome what is disturbing your peace.  Reading Duke’s This Walk Will Chang You is a fun ride that delivers a healthy dose of “laugh out loud” reality mixed with the tools to turn trauma into treasure.  Get it!"

– Julie Piatt, Bestselling author of The Plantpower Way, podcast host, singer/ songwriter

"Lauren Duke doesn’t just write (hilariously, beautifully) about the kind of walking that changes your life. She takes you on that walk, cracking your heart wide open somewhere along the way. I usually roll my eyes when people use the word journey unless we’re talking about the band or an actual trip, but I’ll be damned-this book earns it. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and you’ll close the last page wanting to call the people you love, lace up your shoes, and start walking. Run, don’t walk (despite the subject matter) and get this book."

– Jennifer Pastiloff, National Bestselling author of On Being Human and Proof of Life

“We spend so much of life looking for the next breakthrough that we overlook the simple everyday practices that change us over time. Lauren makes a compelling case that walking is one of them. This book will leave you seeing movement - and the people beside you, in an entirely new way.”

– Joe Kudla, Founder and CEO of Vuori

"Lauren Duke walked five hundred miles across Spain with the family members she had spent years keeping at arm's length. What she found wasn't a fixed family, tied up neat with a bow. It was a true one, flawed and still standing, which turned out to be so much better."

– Libby DeLana, author of Do Walk and founder of This Morning Walk

"This book will change you! Lauren Duke captures something science is only starting to confirm: long walks don't just strengthen the body—they're medicine for the mind and soul, and a part of humanity we've lost. This Walk Will Change You made me take more long walks with the people I love, and we're better for it."

– Micheal Easter, New York Times Bestselling author of The Comfort Crisis and Scarcity Brain

This Walk Will Change You is a potent reminder that sometimes the way forward begins by putting one foot in front of the other. With vulnerability, humor, and a deep understanding of the body’s capacity to heal, Lauren Duke invites us into a story of movement, family, resilience, and repair. This book shows us that we do not have to leave our stories behind in order to change. We can learn to move with them, walk alongside one another, and discover who we might become along the way.”

– Arielle Schwartz, PhD, Psychologist, Award Winning Author, Founder of the Center for Resilience Informed Therapy

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