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Parking Permit
I was walking through Regent’s Park on one of those perfect June afternoons where the warmth of the sun seemed to cast a buttery glow over the sky. A delicate perfume from the flowers gently drifted up from the ground into the air. People were beginning the homeward bound exodus through the park towards various destinations many with their faces glued to smart phones. I found myself willing them to look up and enjoy the magnificence of the park even for a few moments.
My client and I had just finished a coaching session in Queen Mary’s rose garden. We had sat, walked and paused as we explored his desire to find a way to be brave and take a new direction in his career. As we rounded the session off I invited him to pick a rose among the dozens and dozens we had strolled among that afternoon that might stand for a talisman for the next steps on his journey. After wandering a little while he picked a luscious light yellow rose tucked at the back of a big flower bed. The little sign that accompanies each variety of plant was obscured with all the foliage and huge blossoms. He parted the flowers gently and there on the plaque was written ‘The Pilgrim’. We both stood open mouthed and very moved at the synchronicity of this extraordinary combination of what had arisen in our session and this last message.
A walk in the park can present us all with potentially extraordinary moments if we allow ourselves to slow down and really notice what is around us. It is as if the park becomes a metaphoric partner in the conversation we engage in. We make connections and see patterns, inspired by nature, as we explore questions that really matter to us. Using the essence and qualities of each environment together with the universal language of the seasons illuminates that inquiry and reflection. We scope an issue from fresh perspectives as we walk, sit, or sip tea in the park café afterwards to conclude our session and pull the threads into agency going forward.
The good news is that there is more and research telling us walking benefits the body overall. Daily walking has anti-aging benefits, improves sleep, joint health and circulation to name a few.(1 ) When we slow down and bring our attention fully into the present moment, aware of how we feel in our body, in our feelings at that moment and what thoughts are arising we practice a kind of walking mindfulness. The bonus is that researchers in 2014 at Stanford University (2) found that walking in green spaces is a great way to stimulate and greatly increase creative thinking.
Taking a walk in green spaces has been an integral part of my coaching and supervision work for over five years both with individuals and with groups. Even in the smallest urban green spots there is an opportunity to take some ease, open the senses and discover pertinent links to insight and wisdom. At some point All the parks and gardens of Greater London have been my ‘green office’ from Russell Square to Kew Gardens and Hampton Court, and even the ‘promenade plantée’ on the Left Bank in Paris, a 4 km lushly planted walkway above city street level.
Visiting one particular park regularly I came to really know every corner of it as if I had been walking there all my life. The familiarity of it felt like meeting an old friend you know and love where you pay attention in a different, more intimate way, to all the little things that may have changed since you last were together. It allowed me to host the space with my client differently because I could hold a greater sense of the whole space even if we only a small part in the time we had. Other parks i may visit only once a year depending on its seasonal offering or the location.
Working outdoors now and again is good for our practice as professionals, too, where we are often in a room for many hours in a day. Taking our work outdoors we attune ourselves even more acutely to the nuance of change as it unfolds around us season by season. We build an even greater discernment in our senses and awareness of subtle shifts or tentative ideas forming.
When I choose a new location I go there first on my own. I like to check there isn’t anything like earth works going on (with noisy machinery), areas that may be closed to visitors, the distances from our meeting point to toilets or a café and how busy or noisy it might be. Working outdoors means there is a lot more activity all around. Because the space is more open attention to the container for the work is even more important. Walking the park before working with someone is part of preparing the container. Often people open up more when they walk and talk. As a coach or supervisor I will energetically be more consciously aware of holding a strong container for us. We will do some spot contracting for the time we are there and we will work together so that my client can feel safety in the space and at ease to explore knowing I am alongside, but not in the way.
close your eyes and breathe softly through your nose;
you will hear the whispered message,
for all landscapes ask the same question in the same whisper.
I am watching you - are you watching yourself in me?
DH Lawrence, Spirit of Place: Letters and Essays on Travel
For me these green lungs of our cities have become an integral part at the heart of my work. I encourage you to give yourself permission to take your practice to a park or a garden. Find your rose or maybe a special tree that represents something important for you as a practitioner. Like my client who found a rose to stir him on
Seasonal essence and park choices
Spring is about- new possibilities, seeding ideas, creative potential
Look for: gardens with early blooms like snowdrops, daffodils, forsythia, and early leafing or flowering trees
Summer is about- maturity and ripening, joy and celebration
Seek out: gardens abundant in roses, delphiniums, peonies, horse chestnut trees, anything fragrant for evening walks
Late summer is about- harvesting, savouring, appreciation
Find somewhere: with a vista to get a chance of savouring the whole, or where there is a fruit and vegetable patch, ripe and ready for picking
Autumn is about- deep gratitude, letting go, pruning, refining & discerning
Walk in: parks with spectacular displays of foliage changing colours and hue or where cutting & pruning has happened
Winter is about -reflection and deeper listening, gathering insight and wisdom
Be in: parks with many trees, bare of leaves but lithe like dancers where you can see their structure for their beauty, or a snowy walk in nature’s stillness
Karyn Prentice 2018
References
1Among extensive growing research in this area one such study by Dr Mercola of the European Society of Cardiology (The Independent August 30 2015) showed that those who engage in daily moderate exercise like walking experience anti--aging benefits regardless of the age people get started, reduces stroke, benefit mood by triggering natural pain killing endorphins, improves asleep, joint health and circulation.
‘If a medication existed which had a similar effect to physical activity [like walking], it would be regarded as a “wonder drug” or a “miracle cure”’ (England’s Chief Medical Officer 2010) (source www.ramblers.org)
Journal of Environmental & Public Health ( 2012) people are 30% more likely to experience enhanced well-being than inactive adults
2 Give your ideas Some Legs by Marilyn Opprezzo and Daniel L. Schwartz, Stanford University Journal of Experimental psychology Vol 40 No4 pp1142-1153