Walking until the next step shows itself

We received a special message from Sandra Lensink. She wanted to walk the Walk of Wisdom, but not alone. You can walk with her for a day or part of the day. She has nicely described why she wants that in her story below.

As a little girl I didn’t know anything about consciousness, personal development or walking with a question. I only knew that when I was sad or angry, I wanted to walk. Then I grabbed the leash of our somewhat overweight dachshund Finnie. My mother allowed me to walk around our own block and around the church across the street on my own. I remember that I sometimes walked out the door crying or angry.

Along the way, there was always something that caught my attention. Finnie who once again stuck his nose deep in a bush. A butterfly. A snail. A flower that I wanted to take home. Without realizing it, I was already singing or dancing again.

It was only much later that I discovered that a lot of scientific research has been done on this. The rhythmic movement of our steps calms our nervous system and helps release tension. And in nature, our attention is gently drawn to everything that happens around us. Psychologists call this soft fascination. Our brain doesn’t have to work so hard for a while, so emotions can drop and there is room for new thoughts, insights and solutions.

Years later, during a burnout, exactly the same thing happened during walks.
Only now I had questions.

• How did I end up here?
• What can I let go of in order to live life to the fullest?
• What do I have to contribute?

The answers did not come all at once. They unfolded along the way, always in one next, easy-to-take step. In retrospect, I see how each step already carried the next.

That’s how I found the pleasure, courage, zest for life and inspiration to start living my passion as an awareness coach. I traveled for months with a camper through European mountain areas. Eventually, life brought me and my partner Jeroen to our magical mountain house in the Italian mountains, where we now live and work.

Since that burnout, walking with a question has become my way of living and working. As an outdoor coach, I walk with people through the Dutch forests or on the mountain paths around our house on Lake Como. Not because I have the answers, but because I see again and again what happens when someone starts walking with a question.
The body and mind move coherently. The thoughts become broader. There are silences. Wonder for the beautiful nature opens us to the wise nature within ourselves. Answers, insights and solutions are given the opportunity to show themselves.

It still surprises me, the power of walking with a question.

Like that afternoon in Amsterdam. Jeroen and I would go on the road with our camper for three months and walk beautiful trips through Norway. Until he came with the news that he wanted to leave six weeks later, because he could do a cool assignment that he had been longing for for a long time. I understood and yet I was in all states.

There our journey went through the garbage pit. At least, that’s how it felt. Furious, I put on my walking shoes. I stomped through the Flevopark. This ‘childish’ wanted to be felt. From my hair roots to my toes. The so-called injustice. Of which I knew it was not an injustice. Something in me was touched.

After a few kilometers I was tired of stomping. Walking became calmer. My breath too. And poof! There was that relieving, liberating thought:

“You can also leave alone, can’t you? You don’t have to wait”.

I was able to go out on my own. I immediately felt the sparkling adventure. Jeroen was later able to fly to Copenhagen and we could meet each other there. And so it happened… Seeing each other was one big party. And the floodgates were open. From that moment on, I also dared to go out alone with our large camper.

There are now countless examples of inner liberation where I walked through a closed door with an open question. The idea to walk the Walk of Wisdom and invite you to walk with me for a stage or a day also arose.

A planned workshop was canceled. Unfortunately only two registrations.
A cramp in my stomach told me everything I needed to know. Canceling them felt like an absolute no-go. So I put on my walking shoes. I left. With one question. So what does want to arise here in the connection with these two women?

When I got home, I sent the two women a message. I invited them for an evening walk. With their own question. Immediately enthusiastic yeses. Then I posted a message on LinkedIn. A few days later, six women of us were walking through the woods near my old yoga spot. Everyone carried their own question with them.

The first half hour we walked in silence and observed. We stopped in a clearing. One by one, everyone spoke their question out loud. Then she got one word back from the others. The first word that came up spontaneously. The gift word.

Some words tapped into a hidden fear. Others conjured up a roar of laughter. There were silences to which no one had to add anything. This was followed by free, spontaneous movement. One lying in the grass. The other running in circles.

Once back over a cup of tea, we did an intuitive writing exercise. Katrien wrote a poem in three minutes that moved us all. At the end of the evening we asked her if she wanted to read it one more time. It felt like the perfect ending.

Then we whispered, in unison: “How special that we met so quickly on this deep layer”. That night I lay in bed with a big smile. Grateful.

My question that evening was: How can I expand my playful energy even further? In the days that followed, a path unfolded that I could never have imagined. Among other things, I was given clear direction to walk the pilgrim path Walk of Wisdom in Nijmegen. From August 29 to September 4 I will run the full 147 kilometers.

With one open question every day. And I hereby invite you to walk with me for a stage or a day. Also with your own question.

Because now I trust something that I already knew unconsciously as a little girl.
The most surprising and moving answers are there for the taking along the footpath. You just have to go out with your question in amazement.

Would you like to walk with me for a stage or a day? Then take a look at the webpage I made for it: Walk into your own Wisdom and send me a message.