A Winter Walk
Finding Your Winter Ground: Eco-Regulating by Walking
By Sarah Kinsley, Registered Psychotherapist
“I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.”
― John Muir
I recently walked the Trout Hollow Trail, hugging the Bighead River near Meaford. After years of living on the ‘wet’ coast (Vancouver Island), I learned there is ‘no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing’. I put on my rainboots and my trusty yellow rain jacket and began to walk the same trail that John Muir walked in the 1860s during a short stint in this area. Muir, founder of the Sierra Club and advocate for the creation of the National Park System in the USA, was a firm believer in the natural world as medicine.
For me, a walk has always been a way to find my ground, to come back to my center. A chance to engage all my senses and provide a sense of peace not found in this world of constant stimuli. So much so that during a time of great transition, I walked over 800 km on the Camino de Santiago in France and Spain as a way to process this new chapter quietly forming.
I also embark on shorter walks each day, sometimes by the water, sometimes thick in the woods, and other times in big cities, watching the world come alive. Each time I put my shoes on, my body sighs and thanks me.
… and I said to my body, softly, “I want to be your friend.” It took a long breath and replied, “I have been waiting my whole life for this.”
-Nayyirah Waheed
This winter season, you might like to explore eco-regulating.
Taking time, even 10 minutes, to get out in the elements and connect to our mammalian selves. I believe there is something very primal in us that longs for this bilateral movement of the legs and arms swinging. You might use a short walk to re-center during the often full holiday season.
It might interest you to practice the 54321 approach. When you are outside, name
- 5 things you can see
- 4 things you can hear
- 3 things you can touch
- 2 things you can smell
- 1 thing you can taste (or your favourite winter taste).
It can be helpful to name these things out loud, letting your nervous system know you are present and engaged with the world around you as a way to orient and ground. To be here now in all the glory of this season.
Happy walking 🚶❄️🌳