Sara Walks her Talk

Wild Nature has always been my truest home—my happy place, but also a deep holding environment that heals the wear and tear of life.  I’m deeply grateful to my parents, whose vision of raising their children on the land, surrounded by gardens, forests, creeks and creatures, gave me an enduring case of biophilia.

Love and gratitude for this precious planet drew me to walk her forests, shores and ridges— often with clubs, but also deeper therapeutic “hike and howls” or pilgrimages like the Camino (900 km, Spain) or my recent two month  “Walkabout” in the Southwest, awed by the red rock and the solid foundation it imbued.  I was also the therapist for the Take a Hike program for at-risk youth, and saw first hand how restorative nature and exertion are.  Put simply, moving in nature is my medicine.  Science is now able to substantiate what walkers have known all along:  it keeps us sane!

At the start of Covid-19, I returned to my hometown of Nelson for ten weeks, and the trails drew me in day after day, revealing the freshness of a new season.  As Spring unfurled her fresh potential, I was mobilized to change up my sedentary work life—to step out of the office and onto a literal path—of self discovery—with my clients. Walk and Talk was born.  Fascinated by the depth of integration and degree of joy it brought people, I began reading copiously about green therapy and the innate love of our planet–biophilia.  This led to a year long certification with the Nature and Forest Therapy Association, as well as coursework in Outdoor therapy and Nature Based Therapy. It is the highlight of my long career in counselling to work with nature as co-therapist, and I do hope you will join me out here!

 

Give me a wildness whose glance no civilization can endure
Henry David Thoreau. Walking

If you are drawn to Find your Ground, please book your Walk and Talk sessions Online