Walking the cliffs
My brother, Ross, is visiting from Australia with his partner Star and daughter Willow. Many of you know them. As fellow yoga teachers, Ross and Star covered my teaching schedule one summer and Star often holds a woman circle or two. This year though, they’re keen to holiday and enjoy - like most of us - this sensational weather.
Ross is also a counsellor and last year he and I walked about three quarters of the cliffs as he put his counselling skills into practice as I was up against myself and couldn’t see the wood for the trees. I talked for most of our time walking, oblivious to the changing landscape, and by the end of it I felt considerably lighter. I am really grateful to him for taking that time for me.
I have always found walking to be invaluable for my mental health, not least to get the endorphins flowing, but to immerse in nature, and have the opportunity to process. I enjoy walking with trusted friends or family members too, to have intimate conversations, putting the world to rights and getting off our chests whatever needs to be voiced and heard.
This year Ross and I decided we’d walk the whole length of the cliffs and that is what we did yesterday, starting at the bathing pools and finishing out at Pleinmont. It took us seven hours. I’ll be honest by the end we were both done because the sun was relentless and that last stretch from La Corbiere to Pleinmont is harsh. But goodness how lucky are we to live somewhere so stunning and we really were seeing the cliffs at their best, high tide when we started out and the tide going down as we walked farther south.
We talked endlessly (and a lot more balanced this year), which was wonderful, I felt extremely grateful to have him all to myself for the day. Ross and I have always been very close but living the opposite side of the world, we obviously don’t get to hang out very often, but thanks to Signal, we do keep in touch regularly.
I felt very uplifted by the time in nature and with all the chatter, and I even had the energy to cycle to Saints for a low tide swim and to immerse my body in the cold before a long soak in an Epsom salt bath and a stretch on my mat before bed, so I don’t actually ache that much today. Maybe tomorrow…
The walk reminded me of the reason I have put together the “Walk Your Way to Wellness” sessions due to start now in the new year. I am keen to share my love of walking and being in nature with those of you who also enjoy walking but might relish more discipline in getting out and perhaps meeting new people in the process. Not to say you have to chat, silence is also welcome, but sometimes random chats with people can really help to lift the mood and see life from a different perspective.
When I trekked up to the Base Camp of Mount Everest, there were times I zoned out to music, especially when the terrain got hard, or got lost in my thoughts, processing, and there were others times when I relished talking to others and we would have the most intense and intimate conversations at times which I found very helpful. The idea is that each time we meet we walk a certain section of the cliffs, so by the end we might spend a day walking the whole cliffs. Watch out for more info nearer the end of the year.
For now though, get out and enjoy them! There is an abundance of blackberries to enjoy and we feasted on these to keep our energy high - got to love blackberry season!
Love Emma x
