"Walking is man's best medicine" Hippocrates
I walk every day and love it. It lifts me and prepares me for the day ahead. Being in nature deepens my connection to all life and gives me a sense of oneness.
Walk and Talk therapy is not new, the therapeutic benefits of walking in nature are well documented, while being outside in nature provides a sense of freedom, a connection with nature, our natural heritage and, away from the context of the situation of our lives, whether that be our workplace, our home, those people and possessions around us.
A Department of Health report (2011) states “Being active promotes mental health and well-being. It improves self-perception and self-esteem, mood and sleep quality and it reduces stress, anxiety and fatigue”
And as Mike Diamond of Imperial College Healthcare, NHS Trust explains:
“The natural, rhythmic, side-to-side motion, or bilateral movement caused by walking causes nerve impulses to cross back and forth between the left hemisphere (the thinking side of the brain) to the right hemisphere (the feeling part of the brain) which induces emotional and intellectual healing from issues such as trauma and stress. This is a concept also seen in other forms of psychotherapy, such as Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR), Emotional Freedom Technique and Thought Field Therapy.”
