These walks in nature are my invitation for us to return to the movement, attention and relationship.
Our bodies are made for movement, yet much of contemporary life asks us to remain seated, indoors and increasingly immersed in digital environments.
Walking offers a different rhythm. We move through a landscape rather than through a screen; we breathe fresh air, encounter changing weather and light, and allow our attention to expand beyond the immediate demands of everyday life.
There is now a growing body of research exploring the relationship between time in Nature, physical activity and psychological wellbeing. A 2021 systematic review and meta-analysis of 50 nature-based interventions found improvements in several measures of mental wellbeing, including depressive mood, anxiety, positive affect and negative affect (Coventry et al., 2021).
Research on Shinrin-yoku, or Japanese forest bathing, has likewise contributed to a growing field investigating the physiological and psychological dimensions of spending time in forests. A 2021 umbrella review, synthesising 16 systematic reviews, concluded that the available evidence supports forest bathing as a complementary practice for promoting psychophysical wellbeing, while noting that evidence is still insufficient to establish it as a treatment for specific diseases (Antonelli et al., 2022).
But walking with others through a landscape is much older than contemporary wellness research.
Pilgrimages have long used walking as a way of learning, reflecting, encountering others and relating to place. Across cultures, moving through a landscape has been a way of marking transitions, searching, remembering, questioning and simply being present.
My Forward Ambulations are a modest continuation of this human impulse.
We walk without needing to arrive anywhere extraordinary. We pay attention to what is around us and what happens between us. Along the way, I introduce gentle sensory and artistic invitations that encourage us to notice, reflect and experience the landscape through more than just our eyes.
We walk without needing to arrive anywhere extraordinary. We pay attention to what is around us and what happens between us. Along the way, I introduce gentle sensory and artistic invitations that encourage us to notice, reflect and experience the landscape through more than just our eyes.
“Walking, ideally, is a state in which the mind, the body, and the world are aligned.”
— Rebecca Solnit
Walking becomes a way of learning.
Walking becomes a way of caring.
Walking becomes a practice of presence.
I organise a Forward Ambulation approximately every two months, and follow the changing seasons. Each walk takes us somewhere different around Berlin and its surrounding landscapes. And as a way to show care for those who care for us, professionals, students and researchers of the health sector are welcome to join free of charge.
Upcoming walks are announced at least two weeks in advance.
Difficulty & distance: Easy–moderate. Approximately 16 km, with around 70 m elevation gain and 70 m descent. The route requires a minimum to moderate level of fitness. We’ll walk at a comfortable pace, with pauses along the way.
Bring: 🥾 Comfortable shoes 🧥 Weather suitable clothing / rain protection 💧 Water 🥪 A light lunch for the way 📓 Your journal and a piece of 🍂 Your curiosity 🌿 Yourself, exactly as you are
Come for the nature, the mushrooms, the wandering, the changing season, and the company of fellow wandering humans.
Eliana Araque 