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