41: There’s A Walk For That with Harriet Thomas - Episode 41

41: There’s A Walk For That with Harriet Thomas - Episode 41

How do people find hope in the darkest times? This episode of UK Health Radio’s "There’s A Walk For That" follows Harriet Thomas as she shares a simple and surprisingly powerful practice: the 15-minute Wonder Walk.

Recorded in her Croydon garden, Harriet talks about turning an everyday stroll into "a tool to transform how you feel, how you think, and how you love." She reflects on her own journey from "crawling across the floor with sciatica" to walking 1,200 miles across Britain at 60, using walking as a way to reconnect with her body, mood and sense of aliveness.

You’ll hear Harriet challenge the idea that awe is reserved for bucket-list trips: "What if wonder is actually waiting for you right outside your front door?" Drawing on research led by Virginia Sturm, she explains how older adults who took weekly 15-minute "awe walks" reported more joy, broader smiles and a stronger sense of connection, simply by paying closer attention to their surroundings.

Harriet breaks the Wonder Walk into a down-to-earth, three-step method: "look up, look close, look again." She gives vivid examples—a single leaf, a spider’s web, the night sky, a neighbour’s front door—to show how curiosity can shift attention away from constant mental chatter and towards calm, delight and perspective.

She reminds you that "your body can definitely be in the park while your brain is still sitting at your desk," and offers walking as a gentle way to bring the two back together. For anyone in recovery, under stress, or just feeling stuck, this episode suggests that you don’t need grand gestures to feel different; you need 15 minutes and a willingness to notice.

Harriet’s challenge is simple: "Do not wait for Kilimanjaro… just open your front door, go for a 15 minute wonder walk and see whether you can find one small wonder of your own." Could your next step outside be the start of feeling a little more alive?