Stepping Out - Talking For Walking

I have a new episode – hooray. I have been pretty busy lately, studying and working and all the other things that fall onto my plate on a daily basis – but it’s all good! How are you? I hope things have got a bit more back to normal (whatever that is) in the last few months. It’s been a real rollercoaster hasn’t it and I thought I’d got away with it, but Covid has just caught up with me after going to a party last week – it was well worth it though, it was a right 70s dance off, loved it and thankfully, I am not suffering too much from it, so best case scenario. So let me tell you about today’s guest Greg Wilson. Greg is a pal of mine and I talked to him all about his life from army, to civvy street, to finding a new life back in the area where he lived as a child in Mow Cop. We talk about kayaking, his giving up drinking, his heart attack and how he appreciates his life with his dog in his local landscape. So, get some shoes on, plug your headphones in and let’s get walking.

A series of ramblings from Kaz to ease her mashed up brain into 2022. Hear about some new on-line sport walk courses coming your way as well as news on where Kaz's meditations will be in 2022.  Also her thoughts on cross training....all with a backdrop of music and some outdoor sounds too.  Enjoy!

When we're away, we can often relax a bit too much, so this episode is recorded in Weston-Super-Mare on the south coast of the UK, where Kaz spent a few days away with her family.  She walked every morning to stave off the timber monkeys and to keep her fitness up for the South Coast Challenge a week later.  A relaxed walk to hopefully inspire you to do the same.  Happy Holidays!

Rachel Wheeley is Head of Communications and Institutional Events at at St George’s University, a speaker, a host, a writer, a gigging comedian and a podcaster! Phew! And all of that whilst being a Mum of 3 and in her own words is delighted to just be out of the house. So we talk all about what she does when she IS out of the house in her various roles, and why she loves walking and generally about having her fingers in lots of different pies. Oh and if you are interested in how to level up a human and/or The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, this one is for you. So, get on some kind of footwear, grab your phone and headphones and I’ll take you through her story. Enjoy! https://www.walkthepod.com/ steppingoutthepodcast@gmail.com https://rachelwheeley.wordpress.com/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_-ZomZ8bi8 https://www.savetherhino.org/ Buy Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (use your local book shop if you can)  Sponsor me here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/kaz-challenges

FOOTPATH - A footprint as a logo - For planning and finding you way OS MAPS - For finding you way - excellent terrain details STRAVA - For recording your progress and to link to your friends MAP MY WALK - For mapping your route and loading routes to it PLAN MY ROUTE - does what it says on the tin LDWA - Long Distance Walkers Association list of routes WHAT 3 WORDS - So you can tell someone exactly where you are, if something happens to you RELIVE - To record your route and be able to set it to music and see if from above on a map (for fun) BIRD NERD - To identify birds you hear on your travels LEAF SNAP - To identify plants and trees PLANK WORKOUT - For cross training INTERVAL TIMER - For timing hill repeats or sections on a route you want to use for improving performance.

Today, I spoke to the thoughtful and creative forest bathing facilitator, consultant, designer and author, Julia Plevin. She wrote the wonderfully  entitled book; The Healing Magic of Forest Bathing: Finding Calm, Creativity, and Connection in the Natural World. She also founded the Forest Bathing Club and takes groups of people into nature to find and share their connection to that nature in her part of the world, Oregon in the US. Julia sees herself as someone here to create a more beautiful world where all beings are able to thrive and live in harmony with nature. We talk about growing up in a culture, which valued achievement over personal and planetary wellbeing, how she moved into a more creative space and a totally different place to live and amongst other things, what happens in her forest bathing groups, a practice stemming from Japan called Shinrin Yoku. I’m sure you’ll agree when you hear our chat that Julia has a beautiful soul and an interesting and refreshing outlook on life, so enjoy your time outside today if you can, plug in some headphones and off we go. www.juliaplevin.com  www.forestbathingclub.com www.wildkabbalah.com

One of a set of casts, to talk through how I prepare for a long walking event.  Get involved!  www.ultrachallenge.com https://www.thresholdtrailseries.com/events/race-to-the-stones/ CHIA CHARGE BARS - https://www.chiacharge.co.uk/collections/bars?gclid=CjwKCAjwt8uGBhBAEiwAayu_9UZZIcG1EVBFelsLM5eN4WGsH5UxBXhqAQBl0J0qkml7_N4tbpIJJxoCj40QAvD_BwE PRECISION HYDRATION SACHETS - https://www.precisionhydration.com/products/

One of a set of casts, to talk through how I prepare for a long walking event.  Get involved!  www.ultrachallenge.com https://www.thresholdtrailseries.com/events/race-to-the-stones/

One of a set of casts to talk through how I prepare for a long walking event. Get involved! www.ultrachallenge.com www.thresholdtrailseries.com

This episode is designed for you to listen to in the first section of your walk to ground you and walk with freedom.  It will hopefully relax you, help you find an intention and allow you to reach an enjoyable pace for your walk ahead.

My guest on Stepping Out for this episode is the versatile and influencial Karen Lem.  Karen is a Nordic Walking Coach, Pilates Instructor, Personal Trainer and Massage Therapist.  We talk about Nordic Walking and her work with WALX, an holistic exercise organisation.  We also talk about pilates, the challenges of exercising in middle age and also, her love of food, Italy, opera, ballet and her wonderful 'who would you walk with' guest. Enjoy Karen's story and enjoy your walk. www.walxridgeway.co.uk www.vivo-shapehealthlife.co.uk Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong 'A Lovely Day' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdGdQqn2DYU HELP WITH VACCINATING THE WORLD https://www.vaccinaid.org/

This episode is designed for you to listen to in the first section of your walk to ground you and walk with appreciation.  It will hopefully relax you, help you find an intention and allow you to reach an enjoyable pace for your walk ahead.

Simon is a Counsellor and Ecotherapist and all round lovely chap with an excellent beard to boot. Ecotherapy is an umbrella term for traditional counselling that takes place in the natural world. Simon will explain all about that, but let’s just say, it’s remarkable what it can do for everyone on so many levels, as its effective immersion in nature affords us a real visceral connection or re-connection to self and with that, a sense of freedom. As well as having his own private practice, he also works in Devon Counselling College as a tutor and today we talk about mental health, the value of therapy and how walking can help us move forward and gives us choices on where we want to go. www.roamingtherapies.com The Sport Walk Show: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg3Ug6KhpfwHdkou5L_Pf2A  The counsellor directory: https://www.bacp.co.uk/search/Therapists

Today’s guest is the thoughtful, talented and philosophical Guy Tal. A bit about Guy – he was born in Israel and after re-creating himself in different places, doing different things, he decided to settle in Torrey, Utah in the US of A. He’s been a soldier, a university teacher, a software developer, a technology manager, amongst other things, before settling into the life of a full time artistic photographer, writer, speaker and desert wanderer. He has 2 books out there: More than a rock - A deeper look at the creativity, art, expression, craft, and philosophy of landscape photography. The landscape photographer’s guide to Photoshop And his latest book coming out this year is called 'Another Day Not Wasted' (love that title) – and this is a reflection book about the years after his unfulfilling career and his deeper insights into life as an independent artist, his thoughts about photography as a form of art and as a means to a richer and more rewarding life, and his intimate relationship with nature and with his beloved desert—The Colorado Plateau. He’s all about the expression and philosophy behind a photograph, mainly of rock formations, trees and plants, captured perfectly and he brings into life his vision for each shot. His pictures are truly beautiful and they’re all proof of that brilliant nature out there. We talk about his photography of course and his writing, but also about his long distance hiking and backpacking to get where he needs to be. So, grab some form of footwear and some headphones and off we’ll go! https://guytal.com https://www.facebook.com/guytalphoto https://www.amazon.com/Guy-Tal/e/B01BXPXFKW VACCINAID link here: https://www.vaccinaid.org/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=vaccinaid&utm_term=br_donate_vaccine&gclid=Cj0KCQjw4cOEBhDMARIsAA3XDRiXUfRF_JMkQ77X8gGVdHn-UT-9v0LyF_HTDQNBoBFq3bmSEewsmb8aAlCfEALw_wcB

Today’s episode and this one is with a super chilled man called Glenn Berkenkamp. Glenn is an ex-body builder, author, speaker and he also carries out workshops in his corner of the USA, in which he facilitates a space where people can come and recharge, realign and re-connect with what truly matters. He writes many things, but he has 2 books out there to buy, one called ‘Mastery, Living the Highest you’ and his most recent book called ‘Walking with Glenn Berkenkamp – 35 Wellness Walks to Expand Awareness, Increase Vitality, and Reduce Stress. We talk all about his life as a body builder and how his story developed from there after not being big enough to compete to a high enough level. We also allow you to grab some live walking prompts for your walk today. Thank you for listening in your 26 countries across the world - Big love X https://www.livingthehighestyou.com/blog/  www.LivingTheHighestYou.com https://www.instagram.com/glennberkenkamp/ https://www.facebook.com/authorglennberkenkamp Please make sure that you leave a review for Glenn's book if you read it here https://www.amazon.co.uk/Walking-Glenn-Berkenkamp-Wellness-Awareness/dp/1623174732/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=glenn+berkenkamp&qid=1618865544&sr=8-1 To donate to my 10 Event Walking Challenge - go to this link - Every little helps - thank you https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/kaz-challenges Tell me about your story via steppingoutthepodcast@gmail.com

Today's episode is with Mike Brockhurst a.k.a The Walking Englishman. He’s a right good Yorkshireman and he created and developed a site called The Walking Englishman and on there he has mapped 100s of walks for you and I to do across the UK for free and not only that, he has also put all the GPX files on there, which if you love exploring new routes are little nuggets of digital wizardry. We’ll talk about those and why and how he created them, along with his story about himself and his motivation to create those routes. So strap yourself into some appropriate footwear, plug your headphones in and off we go! https://www.facebook.com/TheWalkingEnglishman - The independent free resource website for walking and hiking  Twitter @WalkingEnglish1

This episode is with the articulate and absorbing Amanda Dudman. Amanda is a business coach, consultant and mentor and has a plethora of experience under her belt. Amongst other things, we talk about her coaching, resilience and her amazing treks all over the world. It was a really interesting chat and was lovely to take that tour, especially right now, when we’ve stepped out of traveling for a while. So, go on, shove some shoes on, find your path and enjoy Amanda’s story. https://www.amandadudman.co.uk/ https://twitter.com/AmandaDudman

This episode is with happy Heather Waring. Heather is a coach, mentor and author of the book 'How Walking Saved my Life' after a turn around in her own life in 2014.  We talk about when burnout and adrenal fatigue made it impossible for her to carry on the way she was and how she made it her mission to affect the lives of one million women with her walking experiences and coaching style. She did this by coaching them into finding their true selves by way of walking. She has a lovely story to tell from adversity to one of contentment, peace and happiness and how walking can help improve mental health and prevent negative self-talk. So, take yourself off for a walk and listen to Heather’s story.  Twitter - https://twitter.com/heatherwaring LinkedIn - https://uk.linkedin.com/in/heatherwaring Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/heatherywaring/ "https://1millionwomenwalking.com/"https://1millionwomenwalking.com/ "https://www.facebook.com/groups/onemillionwomenwalking"https://www.facebook.com/groups/onemillionwomenwalking

This episode is with singer, songwriter and presenter Tony Hadley. Tony was born on 2nd June 1960 and he with his band, Spandau Ballet, had 8 top 10 UK albums and after his final split from Spandau Ballet in 2017, he has gone on to have success with his band The Tony Hadley Band. We talk all about how he got into singing, his time in Spandau Ballet, Band Aid and Live Aid in 1985 and his time in the jungle in I’m a Celebrity Get me Out of Here and also about his charity treks for Action Medical Research. We also plonked ourselves into Saturday Swap Shop mode and overall it was a very interesting and fun chinwag. So, pop your shoes on, go for a walk and enjoy Tony's story. http://tonyhadley.com/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt5CqyxjwfJVtFkMJp7y9VQ https://starscarsguitars.co.uk/ https://action.org.uk/ https://www.ameliamarriette.com/

My guest today on Stepping Out is Dan Raven-Ellison, who has become a bit of a hero to me over the last few months, as I have been following his story and work. He is a geographer and Explorer and has worked with National Geographic and Friends of the Earth and he is well qualified to talk about all things pathways, as not only that, he is a former Geography teacher and walked across the UK’s 69 cities and 15 National Parks in 2014. He decided to start a project and that is to map pathways as directly as possible between dwellings. During lockdown, 700 volunteers from across the country collaborated to produce a first draft of the Slow Ways network, creating a stunning Slow Ways map in the process. This incredible effort has led to the creation of 7,500 routes that collectively stretch for over 2500 towns and villages. He is really out there in terms of countryside and urban environmental protection and access and has been spreading the word on the likes of the BBC, the guardian and throughout schools and councils, so you can imagine my delight, when Dan agreed to talk to me about his projects. We talk all about Slow Ways, his pathway mapping project, London as a national park city, his children’s books and of course how he feels when he walks.  Volunteer to walk the paths: https://slowways.uk/  Twitter: @DanRavenEllison  Instagram: @DanRavenEllison 1 minute movie and crowdfunding: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/uk-national-parks-in-100-seconds#start https://ravenellison.com/portfolio/missionexplore/ https://www.johnmuirtrust.org/initiatives/missionexplore-john-muir https://www.nationalparkcity.london/ https://ravenellison.com/