August 2019 • happiful.com • 89a process that gave him the
“strength to rebuild his life”
and finally helped him conquer
depression and anxiety.
“My addictions gave me a sense
of control, because I could choose
when and where I decided to
smash myself apart. It gave me a
sense of autonomy when I’d lost
my mum and brother, even though
I was completely out of control,
with no autonomy. But when I
took a walk, that too gave me a
sense of autonomy,” he says. “For
that moment in my life, I had a
purpose. I was moving forward
and had control.”
Five years ago, Jonathan moved
from south-west London, where
he developed Walking Therapy, to
the Isle of Wight, where he lives
with his wife and two daughters,
and runs residential retreats for
burned-out city workers. More
often than not, on day three, he
witnesses a flood of emotions as
clients relax and the adrenaline
wears off, exposing their true
feelings.
“We always look at drugs like
alcohol but never consider the
drugs that we create in ourselves,
in our minds, with adrenaline
being the main one,” says
Jonathan, who believes walking
and finding the mental space to
confront difficult emotions can
treat anxiety and depression long
before they take hold.
“If you think about anger being
an energy, if you push that energy
into a boiler, it will explode or
implode. If it implodes, you
get depression, but before it
explodes, an alarm goes off –
that’s anxiety. You’ve got to deal
with the pressure that’s building
up in the boiler beforehand,” he
explains.
As a psychotherapist, Jonathan
feels privileged to be able to help
others, using nature as a healer –
a gift he luckily stumbled across
before it was too late.
“My clients inspire me every
single day,” he smiles. “The power
of what they’re able to achieve
fascinates me, which is why if
someone says, ‘I’m depressed, I’ll
never get over it,’ I never carry that
disbelief. ‘It will work,’ I say. ‘But
you’ve got to put the work in.’”FIND YOUR TEMPO
Fast: “When you’re depressed,
it’s fine to walk slowly, but I’ve
found that when I’ve really
walked, the blood begins racing
around the body, which gets the
endorphins going. The act of
walking can help us channel out
unwanted or negative feelings.”Slow: “Get rid of all the anger
you’ve pent up over the day
by ambling during your lunch
break. Ambling is about slowing
it down. Come out of the office
and watch other people run
around while you walk slowly.
This is a great way to manage
your adrenal glands and calm
them down, which guards
against burnout. The more we
amble, the more we’re present
and connected with everything
around us because life isn’t
flying past us.”‘Walk With Your Wolf: Unlock your
intuition, confidence and power’, by
Jonathan Hoban (Yellow Kite, £14.99).
Visit jonathanhoban.com for more.My clients inspire me
every single day. The
power of what they’re
able to achieve
fascinates me