Today is World Mental Health Day so let’s look at how we can walk ourselves well.

During multiple bereavements and losses, when my mental health was so low I wondered how I would ever recover, I have discovered the truly ‘medicinal’ power of walking. And more recently through my training with the British Pilgrimage Trust, the power of walking as pilgrimage. I have grown to love the Celtic definition of pilgrimage as ‘Whatever happens on this journey through life.’

In her brilliant book, 52 Ways to Walk, author Annabel Streets ponders the power of such walking pilgrimages.

She quotes a Yale-Columbia study which found that “spiritual experience involves ‘pronounced shifts in perception [that] buffer the effects of stress’, confirming earlier reports linking spiritual experience to greater resilience.”

It is just such resilience which can help us endure one or a succession of bereavements, griefs, losses and transitions- singly or collectively the emotional trauma of which can cause us deep mental and physical ill health.

Streets goes on to reveal, “Several [studies] found that a sense of the spiritual promoted higher levels of life satisfaction and well-being a clearer sense of purpose and meaning greater hope and optimism as well as lower levels of depression and anxiety.”

She quotes Professor Marino Bruce who in one such report on spiritual practices increasing longevity, explains how the feeling that, “you’re not in the world alone, that you’re part of a power larger than oneself, can give one confidence to deal with the issues of life. Biologically, if that reduces stress, then that means you’re less likely to have high blood pressure or diabetes or things that can increase mortality.”

A 2008 study linked spiritual experience to a complicated cocktail of multiple raised neurochemicals including dopamine, melatonin, endorphins and the happiness transmitter serotonin,” adds Streets.

So while every study going sems to prove what we instinctively believe, that walking in nature is good for the mind, body and spirit, now we have a range of reports concluding that a spiritual pilgrimage increases these benefits even further. And from my personal experience, when we go through traumatic life events, choosing to nurture ourselves in this deeply therapeutic way is a powerful way to take control of our own health and life in as positive, natural a way as possible.

I am not saying medication doesn’t have its place. I know many for whom this support has been essential in the short or longer term.

18 months after my daughter died, my body started to break down and I was diagnosed with anaemia, vitamin D deficiency, the auto immune conditions hypo thyroidism and adrenal fatigue, alongside a range of menopause symptoms which the hormonal surges caused by Gabi’s death had started early. I was a physical wreck. Taking control of my own nutrition, supplements, exercise, sleep, screen time, working hours, therapy and generally adopting a much healthier lifestyle have allowed me to fully manage my own symptoms without recourse to medication.

Let us review why the ‘nature cure’ of walking through any kind of grief and loss can help us so much.

In our minds

By walking, we gain focus, take control back, and open the door to our emotions, the very motion is therapeutically allowing us to start processing. The very act of putting our feet down in repetitive motion brings a sense of stability and calmness, while literally ‘grounding’ our most traumatic emotions.

Dr Francine Shapiro, pioneer of EMDR trauma therapy, discovered that when we use ‘panoramic sweep’, scanning horizons, we experience ‘optic flow’. This quietens anxiety and improves our ability to process, store and retrieve memories and organise difficult memories.

We can remember our loved ones by walking to meaningful locations and even reframe our grief by raising money for charity in their name. For the first two years after my daughter’s death, my family and friends gathered to walk the Stanage Stumble for ‘HomeStart’, the family support charity in Gabi’s name, and share our memories of her along the way.

In our bodies

The physical movement- the very act of choosing to nurture ourselves this way- builds psychological strength.

Walking improves our heart and sleep quality, regulates blood sugar, boosts our immune systems, eliminates toxins and increases endorphins, the happy hormones. All things which can be knocked for six by grief. Walking strengthens our bones and muscles, which increases feelings of resilience.

Your pilgrimage in the sun, under trees and by water will have even more benefits.

Annabel Streets cites hundreds of reports that walking in natural greenery has been shown to lower cortisol, stress and reduce the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease and premature death.

Trees give off phytoncides, natural essential oils which have anti-bacterial and anti-fungal qualities to help them fight off disease. When we breathe these chemicals in, our bodies respons by releasing NK (Natural Killer) white blood cells which kill tumour and virus infected cells in our bodies.

Sunlight boosts our Vitamin D levels, guarding against multiple auto immune conditions and cancers- deficiency has been said to be as bad a smoking for us.

And if you can walk by moving water- adding blue therapy to your green therapy- the negative air ions will boost your immune system and increase your antibodies, relaxing our primal brains who know we are near water and food sources!

In our spirits

Listening to natural sounds makes us feel 30% more relaxed, reports suggest, and birdsong makes 40% of us feel happy.

Walking alone is an empowering act of self-strengthening, which allows us to nurture our relationship with ourselves. Our capacity to be alone is a valuable resource enabling us to access our deepest feelings, when removing ourselves from our habitual environment. It promotes self-understanding and connection with our inner being, boosting our self-reliance and self-confidence.

Walking in company side by side allows easier communication and counters the natural tendency to isolate after bereavement, which can ease feelings of loss and loneliness. It can also cause us to reflect, rather than the less mentally healthy act of rumination, the process of thinking the same sad, dark thoughts continuously. This habit can be dangerous to our mental health as it can prolong or intensify depression as well as impair our ability to think or process emotions.

Human beings have walked through the ages, droving, to market, to trade and on pilgrimage, seeking the safety, security and stimulation of numbers. Pilgrimage fosters relationships and cements friendships. The slow, familiar pace is inclusive which releases happy hormone dopamine and bonding hormone oxytocin. Studies of walking group members have shown reduced BMI, lower blood pressure and cholesterol, and a higher sense of acceptance and belonging.

Streets opines that, “the pilgrims currently walking beside us may provide a collective sense of solace that other walks don’t.” She quotes science journalist Florence Williams who suggests, “if you are depressed or anxious, social walking in nature boosts your mood. If you want to solve problems in your life, self-reflect and jolt your creativity, it’s better to go alone.”

And these are just a few of the benefits of a walking pilgrimage.

Join our next walk

Hope Walking is honoured to have been selected as a travel partner by global travel company Walking Women.

Our first joint walk is the Way of St Augustine this October, a 19-mile two-day walk from Ramsgate to the World Heritage Site of Canterbury Cathedral and we are looking at other routes.

Learn more and book our next two-day comfort pilgrimage here: