GROWTH THROUGH STORY WALKING

I can’t remember how it began; the decision for my GP, Jane Myat and I to invite some of her other patients to join us for a story, a poem or two and some gentle qigong as we walked through the Green Spaces that lie between the Listening Space Garden at the Caversham GP practice in Kentish Town and the Story Garden in King’s Cross.

What I do know is that we began during the first lockdown in London and in one form or another we have continued most weeks ever since. Over the months that followed I got to know the Sweet Chestnut in Camden Square, the Ash and the avenue of Plain trees in St Pancras Gardens, but most of all I got to know my neighbours and myself in ways that I never had before. Together we lived our way into a practice we now call Story Walking.

We walked in small groups and as the pandemic intensified we found our way on our own to the safety of the Story Garden, where we sat in widely spaced circles watching the flames of a fire grow. We saw individuals, who had previously considered themselves unwell initiating activities, meeting up outside sessions to walk and volunteer in a local park.

Qigong in St Pancras Gardens

Fire Circle in the Story Garden

As the trust between us developed, different people started to write about their experience and here is some of what they had to say…

“What is endearing and draws me back is that none of us in this group is hiding or wearing their ‘title’ . We come as human beings reaching out - mixed ages, genders, background experiences. We express our human responses in a safe environment where we can reach in & reveal how we truly feel. It is as if each one of us has become a component molecule within a healthy organism.”

- Val

“At 81 & through the first lockdown I wondered how I was going to take pleasure in my remaining time on earth. These walks opened up a new lease of life & the start of a new community which I could embrace. We share poems & stories that have beauty & relevance for us - enjoy the green spaces & let our imaginations soar. We do qigong exercises, watch our breathing & feel opened to the skies above us & more aware of the ground beneath us.”

- Pamela

We have reflected on what we have been kindling together, what role might this have to play in the wider story of health. As we wove our way into the green cloak that still covers parts of Camden, we realised that the Story Walks brought to the surface ingredients that most of us need for living a healthy life; connection, meaning, movement, art, time for reflection and inspiration… And quite importantly, time to pause.

No longer were the sometimes disempowering dynamics of expert knowledge at play. We were no longer patients spending time with our doctor, as important as that may be. All of us were discovering and helping each other… Sharing wise and creative parts of ourselves. However if it wasn’t for the relationship we had with our GP, none of us would have met each other and our Story Walking community would never have had a chance to grow. We began to think of it as doing doctoring differently.

This was how our GP, Jane Myat described her experience.

“I’m feeling grateful for being on this journey of encouragement and wisdom to trust instinct, intuition, to slow down, to notice and respect other ways of knowing. Such a different approach from the scientific empiricism inherent in modern medicine. I think through all the wonderful and varied folk who have walked with us, some every week, some coming and going, the flow and the energy this has provided. Would I have got through this time of pandemic without this rhythm to my week, the regularity of these encounters, the hope, possibility, solidarity, kindness and humour?...and what of walking with people, who are patients of mine? I feel bonded and connected, in the right place I’d say for someone gifted the role of healer. A responsibility and a privilege.”

Tania Lewis and Jane Myat in Camden Square

Now in a tier 5 lockdown, meeting in person is no longer an option. Our Story Walks have gone on-line. We are still finding ways for silence, creativity and connection to run between us. During a recent session, one of the participants, Chrissie Nicholls showed us how to create Weathergrams out of brown paper in the shape of leaves, that held small messages. Our whatsapp group buzzed over the following days providing clues about the trees, on the walks we have taken, where they had been hung. Posts came in about the people, including the postman who had found our Weathergrams. Amidst the uncertainty of the times we are living through it feels like we are finding ways to ‘sing-up’ the steady presence and the healing energies of the ground that lies between us.

One of the many Weathergrams deposited in the trees that guide our walks

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Notes from the Garden