Walking is man’s best medicine – Hippocrates
We all know that a daily walk and exercise is good for our physical health but research shows that physical activity is also good for our minds. 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”
I love to walk and personally find walking each day helps lift my daily stresses. An early morning walk with my dogs brightens my day and wakes me up ready to face each day anew. I also find that walking outside in nature and experiencing the world around me is a healing and spiritual experience I can breathe in all that I see and breath out the busyness of life.
A blog by Mike Diamond of Imperial College Healthcare, NHS Trust explains why:
“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.”
I have incorporated my love of walking and counselling in ‘Walk and Talk therapy’. Clients have found this a very helpful way of being able to explore their thoughts and emotions with the added benefit of being able to move physically in surroundings that are neutral and natural. I generally walk in the Bristol area at Snuff Mills, Stoke Park Estate and Severn Beach, or in the Wye Valley.
Walk and Talk therapy would begin with us meeting initially at one of the Therapy rooms I work from (St Briavels in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire or Elm Park, Filton, Bristol) when we would discuss your hopes and aims for counselling. Each week we would agree on the location and format of each session.
My fees are:
Initial session: £25
60 Minute session: £60
90 Minute session: £80
4 pre-booked and paid for 60 Minute sessions £220