This was the first official walk for Walking for Wellbeing and I don't mind admitting I was a little nervous as I walked down to meet the client. I'd undertaken a couple of 'test cases' to get my head around how much ground to cover, what pace to go, how often to stop and see how conversation might flow, all of which was very useful and without this preparation it might have been incredibly daunting.
As it was, the walk itself was lovely, the client was open and talkative and definitely made real progress, coming to some important conclusions about things she needs to get through to help her feel better. We stopped by a lake in Stowe's beautiful gardens and had ham and brie wraps and a can of Bud, watching the coots and ducks go about their business until the temperature dropped somewhat and we headed onward.
I've arranged to see her again in a fortnight and subsequently for two more walks after that. At that point we'll guage how she's doing and whether we need to continue at the same frequency or maybe move to monthly walks for three months. I will let her plan the third walk so she has some ownership of our time together.
I really got a lot out of this walk, not just the wonderful scenery and good company but the opportunity to be a listener, to let someone talk their way through their life and their problems and see them make real, tangible progress was really fulfilling. I spent some of the evening and the following day in a bit of a daze as to quite how well things went. I'm quite sure I got lucky on the first outing for the charity project and not every client will be so open and aware of their problems, but I'm pleased the premise has been proven and I've helped just one person. I always told myself that if one person got something from a walk with me, took something away with them and made good progress, it'd all be worth it. It definitely feels worth it now.
