But walking in a city isn’t only about pavements and busy streets, your route can lead you off the beaten track. It can take you into parks which may be full of wonderful manicured lawns and designed flowerbeds or into less formal grassy areas with woodland, wide open spaces, sports fields and children’s playgrounds. Here you can take a break and lie in the sun; sit on a bench and read a book; enjoy the autumn colours and the emergence of spring;look around you and just ‘be’; have a picnic; paddle in a pond; catch the spray from a fountain; ; kick through the leaves; play hide and seek; take photos. I do them all.

Then there are paths along rivers, both great and small. I’ve watched swans and their cygnets swim among the reeds, seen a whale been towed out to sea and stood on one side of Tower Bridge as it’s been raised. One of my favourite places to walk in London is from Mile End tube up the canal which takes me to Islington, then on to Camden teaming with life on market days, through Regents Park and then to Maida Vale with it’s wonderful mansion blocks and houses and finishing in Paddington. New developments, house boats, canal side pubs, bikes, buggies and runners – life on those paths is never dull.

One of my favourite walks is in Stanley Park in Vancouver, it’s amazing to have this huge are in a city and I love to walk on the Highline in Manhattan, it changes every time I visit – http://www.thehighline.org/

So let your feet take you there whether in your leisure time or when travelling to a meeting or commuting. On regular routes there is always something new to see and why not vary your route and discover something new. Explore your own city, discover new ones. It will give you a real feel for a place and give you the chance to meet real people too.

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It also throws us challenges and that’s when it can be harder. Can we turn these things to the good or can we handle them as they are and learn from them as we are meant to? Can we accept what is on our path?

Often we want to change things – small things and big things, we believe that if only we were slimmer that life would be better; if only we got through all the ‘crap’ then we’d have a joyous time; if only that person would leave the job, our working day would be better. I’m sure you know the kind of thing I mean but if we are in that mindset then we are not in the moment and we are not in acceptance.

As I’ve shared, health is my top value, I’ve been investing in it all year as I’ve been on my journey of recovery from Adrenal Fatigue and it’s very important that I get my health to be the best it can be. It’s for me but also for my clients because I talk to them about self care and also run these amazing walking experiences which are all about space and time for you/ for them to put yourself first and focus on your life and how to design it as your heart desires. So if I don’t take care of me, how can I expect you to take me seriously and what I’m asking others to do.

Of course it doesn’t all go smoothly and after three weeks of weight loss, increased exercise and doing my nails, this week brought a few slip ups. I could see myself falling back into my old mindset of ‘I’ve lost some weight so now I can eat a bit more’ and off I go. Self-sabotage starts to take over.

This time though I stopped myself, I talked nicely to myself when before I would have been really mean to me and I just accepted the situation and the fact that today was a new day. There was a wobble or two, it came yesterday. Today, I am back on track and this afternoon I found a great quote that inspired this post and will become one of my mantra’s, it’s just the right thing for me. The quote from Tommy Rosen says –

“In this moment, I am in acceptance of all my life – its challenges and its joys. I am blessed.”

I intend to keep this to hand and use it when I feel tempted or triggered, perhaps it’s my new rule. Might this help you too? Would love to hear what you think? You know what to do, comments below please.

To be honest I can’t even recall how this book came to be on my radar but it did and for that I am so grateful. I liked what I saw, having checked it out on Amazon and I hinted resulting in it being one of my Christmas presents. It’s been used constantly and is so loved that the corners are dog eared and sellotape holds some pages in place and it will forever hold a special place in my heart.

The book is a celebration of it’s name and it provides an introduction to each month and a suggested collection of things you could do/indulge in that month at the end of the section. In between there is a reading for every day and a daily quote.

I pick it up every year on Jan 1st. Sometimes I manage to read each and every day, other times I dip in and out and yet again I start, leave a week or so or day or so because I’m travelling. Whatever happens though I learn each and every time. I’m continuously inspired, I get loads of ideas, I try new things and I slow down and appreciate all the wisdom that is shared.

This book has touched me so much that I regularly recommend it to others and it has inspired my own book that I am currently working on. Check it out yourself because it’s still not too late to hint about it as a Christmas present.

What are your favourite books and why?

Now let’s see…….How do I define values? Well these are the things that are really important to us, the things, the characteristics that make us who we are and without which we would feel rather lost and not ‘us’. So they’re to do with our identity and what we stand for.

A value might be ‘fun’, perhaps ‘freedom’, financial security’. Are you beginning to see how it works? What about ‘family’? This is one loads of people want to include but ‘family” itself is not a value it’s what it gives us. What does it give you? It could be ‘love’, ‘belonging’ or something similar, it will be different for everyone.

One of the many tools in my coaching toolkit is one of values elicitation and using it with my clients is not just fun, it’s one of those things that has a wow factor and it’s eye opening and empowering.

But why worry about values? Why is knowing them important? If you know them, you can then use them, you can honour them. As we move forwards in our lives, getting to where we want to be can sometimes be relatively easy and at other times a real struggle. This can often be because our dreams, wishes and intentions are not in line with our values.

If you value integrity but are in a position where you are being asked to do things that compromise your integrity, after a while that is going to cause you pain or discomfort. Many people are not happy in aspects of their lives because the life that are living is not in line with their values but of course if you don’t know your values you will not know that this is the reason.

I have a fairly good idea of mine and I am also aware that the top 8 or 10 are only the tip but they will be the most important at that time. Some core values will always be in that top 10, others will move in and out depending on where you are in your life. For instance ‘responsibility’ may not be as much of a priority as a single person as when you become a parent it’s a different story.

For me, health is always up there but when I attended a values discovery day I discovered it was number 1. Not that surprising really as I had made a conscious decision to make all aspects of health my priority this year and also ongoing as I move towards 2016.

Yes, I’ve done values work before and I have a good idea of mine but I still have some aha moments and breakthroughs as I reviewing them and honour them. By focusing on them and using them as a check to aid my decision making I feel so much clearer and sure I am on the right track.

Do you know your values? I’d love to hear from you.

Nature is truly wonderful as she gives us so many colours and textures to appreciate. Feeling a little stressed? Then take your frustration out by crunching through or kicking through those leaves. You can do it when you’re happy too with a loved one on a romantic walk, with the kids who’ll love the opportunity to disperse piles of leaves or how about with a good friend. If you play it right include a stop at the pub for lunch, stop in one of the many coffee shops or come home to tea and muffins or hot chocolate.You see you don’t have to belong to a walking group to add to your social life and health benefits and if you are willing to travel further afield, the world is your oyster.

If you go on the internet and google ‘walking’ you can get hold of loads of information. For example, and I’ve just done this as I’m writing, you can find out information about walking and fitness but what about http://www.walkingbritain.co.uk/ which tells you where you can walk throughout the united Kingdom. If you fancy a day trip or a weekend away this can help you find a great spot and a number of walks to try out. It also provides a guide on ‘how to start walking’ and info on how to use the site.

Another tool I found under ‘walking’ was http://walkit.com/ This is a great tool if you live and work in London as it’s an urban walking route planner and it can save you time and money.  It lets you see how easy it is to walk around London by keying in where you want to get to and you can formulate your own routes too. Having a day ‘up town’, then include a walk in one of your fantastic parks and do a little of the Regents Canal too. Tourists can use it but also workers who find it enables them to get around more quickly and not have to take taxis etc. It’s often only a short distance to your destination.

If you get the walking bug, which I hope you do, then I’m very happy to advise on kit and where you can pick up good bargains. Until then, just try it out and see what you think and let me know what you discover.

If you identify perhaps you are overwhelmed with what needs to be done to get your business developing as you wish; how to get some balance in your life and deal with all the demands on you or to get your health and fitness to where you want.  Perhaps you want to produce a new product or service and just don’t know how to go about it. It may be that you don’t feel you have a purpose. On some occasions this can come when children leave home and you have time for you at last but don’t know what it is you want to do or maybe you have got divorced, come through major illness etc.

My role is to work with you and help find your path because it is out there for you. The path may be rocky and narrow at present but with my help we can get you on a wide smooth path which takes you on a fabulous journey.

I was interested to find the other day that one of the world’s most popular male actors is currently feeling lost. Ryan Gosling has decided to put acting on hold for a while. He said that he was having an internal struggle and therefore taking a break from himself. He said ” I have lost perspective on what I’m doing and think this is the right way to explore how I’m doing this and why I’m in this”

Life doesn’t care who you are, we all face struggles and getting lost on the path. What is important is to recognise this and do something about it.

Have you felt lost or overwhelmed? I’d love to hear your thoughts so please so leave some comments.”

I do realise that for some of you, when winter comes, exercise might be the last thing on your mind but what if you could find something that could become part of your life and had an ease to it?

Well, that’s walking, often described by health experts as “almost perfect exercise” and, it offers an amazing number of benefits. Would you believe me if I told you that a walk first thing in the morning will set you up for the day ahead? Or that a walk in the cold after a heavy lunch will help your digestion and make you feel wonderful when you return to a warm home and a hot cuppa? Even a brisk walk when you have a cold or a hangover does blow the cobwebs away.

Only 30 minutes a day

Only 30 minutes a day is what is generally prescribed and that’s not too difficult to fit in. Once you get that really built into your schedule you may find that you want to take it further and explore farther afield. Walking really helped me get to know my locality and when I take others out they often comment on places they didn’t know even though they may have lived in the area for some time. At times when I know I should walk but time is tight, I really think about fitting it into the other things I have to do. Recently a walk has often ended at the bank, dry cleaners, post office or at the supermarket and if the supermarket, I get my weight training too. At the weekend, instead of getting into the car, I walked to deliver some goods and killed two birds with one stone.

The best way to start is slowly with your goal being to build up the pace to one that is comfortable for you and where you are able to hold a conversation while you are walking. And remember that although 10,000 steps is what the world’s health experts maintain we need to do a day to keep us healthy, as I said just 30 minutes of brisk walking daily can help prevent disease, maintain weight and improve your mental wellbeing. Even better is the fact that this 30 minutes can be broken down into smaller chunks helping to fit it into your lifestyle. So a walk to the post box and back; up and down stairs instead of using lifts – you know the kind of thing. Most importantly have fun.

If you are a convert to walking, you will know the benefits for yourself so please do tell me of your favourite walks, I’m sure I could learn of new places for me. Even if you are in a different part of the country or world do share as I love to walk when I travel and you’ll be helping me, and perhaps others out. Just post them in the comment box below and if you’d like to, tell me why this is a favourite walk. Perhaps we can put together a list on the resources page.