Walks into journeys: 6 ways to use walking outdoors to improve mindset and mindfulness
Putting on the walking boots - the outdoors provides us with so many metaphors for mindset and mindfulness
I recently wrote about why getting out for a walk into nature can have massive benefits on your mindset and mental health. Although walking will always unblock something, and allow you some time to reset, I’ve discovered that sometimes it can be hard to let go of the chaos of everyday life, especially when you’re feeling overwhelmed, stuck or anxious.
In this article, I wanted to share with you 6 tried and tested tips, tools and techniques that I’ve developed over the years, revealing what you need to do when out on the hill to help to unburden yourself, counter the overwhelm, and ensure your expedition leads to positive breakthroughs, transformative journeys and real results.
1. Leave your expectations at the door
This may seem like a strange one, especially since when the true purpose of what I do when I coach leaders and facilitate groups outdoors, is to work towards achieving a real mindset transformation and/or a tangible output.
However I have found that the real gold comes when you let go of any preconceptions and expectations, and stop trying to force the result you expect/want/believe you should have.
What this certainly ISN’T about is walking without purpose (though sometimes if you are extremely overwhelmed, the purpose may simply be to clear your head)
Whether is it to solve a problem, mull over a big decision, or get inspiration for your Next Big Thing, always keep your purpose in mind, but don’t force a resolution, don’t beat yourself up if you haven’t got a firm answer at the end, or force yourself to think about it until you’re ready. Take the pressure off and let your mind come to it in its own time.
If you need guidance to keep on track and help you to where you want to go, take someone with you who can help on that journey, and free your mind from its own high expectations.
2. Remove distractions that WILL suck you back into the chaos
In an always-connected world, it can be quite refreshing to go somewhere where there is no phone signal or Wi-Fi, but the reality is that in this modern age, the chances of you going for an entire walk without connecting to a mobile network are quite slim. Besides, you may be using your phone for navigation, as a camera, or to take notes, but please do turn off any email, SMS and social media notifications, and let non-critical calls go to voicemail.
3. Free your mind of its own background noise
The modern world forces our minds to retain an incredible amount of short-term information, which can easily overwhelm us. Half-made decisions. Partial thoughts. Things on hold, until you get more information. Half-baked ideas. Worries, fears or stuff that’s just too big to think about right now with the time you have.
Firstly, the brain is very poor at determining which of this information is important RIGHT NOW, and which isn’t relevant. Secondly, it is terrible at organising these thoughts and presenting them back to you when you ARE able deal with them. It puts them all into a buffer and they swirl around in there, occasionally resurfacing when you don’t want them to, and hardly ever when you do.
When first embarking on a walk, as the space opens up, and your mind relaxes, all the stuff in the ‘buffer’ will start to resurface, one thought after the other. DON’T shut this process down. Let your mind work through its backlog, and help it to ‘clear the cache’ by taking the opportunity to write down anything that comes up. Solve it, decide it, park it. Just move it into the long-term storage (i.e. your notebook!). As your mind empties, you can start to take on more strategic thinking, and sometimes might be find the creativity to unblock things that have been circling for a while.
4. Engage other senses to sharpen your focus
Find yourself a nice, quiet beautiful spot. Sit down (if you can), take a pen and paper, and close your eyes. What can you hear? Where is it? What direction? Near or far? Imagining yourself in the middle of the page, and keeping your eyes closed, draw what you can hear, on the page, in relation to where you are sitting.
5. Take your time
There’s a reason why I insist on 6-hour minimum sessions for Mountain Boardroom coaching and strategy walks. It’s not because I’m expecting to pack in six hours of intensive coaching, but rather because time to make progress, reflect, circle back, reassess, see things in a new light, open up new possibilities and change your mind are all factored into the process. This can’t happen if you rush your agenda - let it be organic, and follow the threads that present themselves.
6. Commit to a plan
“A goal without a plan is just a wish”
Don’t lose all the fantastic inspiration that you have during your expedition! Create actions and put together a plan to follow through on any goals you set and decisions you make.
