Spiritual Companionship Walks
Spiritual Companionship Walks
Can you imagine the power of being listened to?
A few months ago, a friend reached out to me. He’s had a lot going on across the past two years and was facing some momentous life decisions. Also, like me, he had felt spiritual longings and a desire for greater commitment to ritual. He said,
“With all these changes going on in life, I want to talk with someone who will simply listen to me, who will create a moment of peace for me. I think you’d do this well.”
We framed it as a “Spiritual Companionship Walk” – an elevated talk, walking a spiritual path side by side. My role was not to solve his dilemmas or even to assist him in making decisions. I simply created the space for stillness for him to reflect on sojourns in life. It went extremely well:
“When I took my spiritual companionship walk with Russell, I was on the precipice of some major life changes, and feeling stressed and scared. We talked and walked for nearly two hours as the sun rose over the Sonoran Desert, with Russell mostly asking thoughtful questions and listening deeply. I came out of it feeling calmer, more grounded, and ready to make a leap of faith into my next chapter in life.”
Since then, I’ve taken more Spiritual Companionship Walks with friends, friends of friends, and people who have found me through my writing. I keep doing them, experimenting with them and seeing how they go. I’m giving the moments permission to simply become whatever they’ll become.
One thing I know – every time I take one, something very cool emerges:
“My Spiritual Companionship Walk with Russell helped me see the last year of my life from a much wider perspective than I could inhabit alone, and surfaced some profound insights. His calm and accepting presence and ability to ask wise and interesting questions are truly a gift. I can’t recommend taking a walk with Russell highly enough.”
We can talk by phone or FaceTime, whatever makes the walker more comfortable. Usually, we both are taking a walk in nature while we talk. While I am not a therapist, I listen to people about transitions, regret, forks in the road, grief, loss, dying, and related moments in their lives and the lives of their family and friends.
If such a moment might be helpful, I’d be honored to take a walk with you. Email me here and simply say “Russell, I’d like to take a Spiritual Companionship Walk with you.” I’ll be in touch soon with more details.
Or, if you know someone who might benefit from such a walk, I’d welcome an introduction or share this post with them:
I've missed hearing about your walks! (Did you see, there is a new documentary about June Carer Cash coming out? )
Hi Russell, Thank you for this post. I am an avid walker. I have a dear friend with whom I walk. I treasure our walks. This post asks me to reflect on how well I listen during our walks. It encourages me to pay attention to the gift that is a walk. The last few winter months our walks have not happened with the consistency of walks during better weather. That makes me sad, but also teaches me to value them a bit more deeply. Toward more listening altogether. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.