42: There’s A Walk For That with Harriet Thomas - Episode 4242: There’s A Walk For That with Harriet Thomas - Episode 42
UK Health Radio Podcast
Harriet Thomas shares how walking and simple nature rituals helped her process the loss of both parents, including during Covid lockdown. She offers gentle, practical ideas for using slow, mindful walks as an alternative way to handle grief, sadness and stress instead of turning to alcohol.
36:38•18 Oct 2026
There’s a Walk for That: Grief, Nature and Gentle Healing with Harriet Thomas
Episode Overview
- Slow walks in nature can help the body release grief-related adrenaline and ease stress.
- You don’t need wild landscapes; a small local or urban park can hold plenty of “tiny miracles” if you slow down and look.
- Simple rituals, like collecting leaves and feathers and letting them float away, can create meaningful ways to remember loved ones.
- Talking to people who have died while walking can offer comfort and a sense of ongoing connection.
- Choosing a walk over alcohol, TV or shopping can bring relief without guilt and support long-term emotional wellbeing.
“Walking in nature is so much more effective than a glass of wine or a series on Netflix or a shopping spree or a punnet of ice cream.”
How do people cope with the challenges of staying sober, grieving deeply, or just getting through a heavy day? This conversation with walking guide Harriet Thomas offers a gentle, very human answer: go for a walk. Recorded on the anniversary of her mum’s death, Harriet takes you on an unscripted audio walk through an urban park, sharing how putting one foot in front of the other helped her through losing both parents, including her dad to Covid during lockdown.
She talks about adrenaline, stress and grief, and how walking gave that pent‑up energy somewhere to go. As she puts it, walking in nature is “so much more effective than a glass of wine or a series on Netflix or a shopping spree or a punnet of ice cream.” You’ll hear how she used slow, mindful walks to make sense of loss, from daily loops in her local park to a 1,200‑mile trek from Land’s End to John O’Groats.
Along the way, she shares the story behind her personal “Remembrance Walk” ritual: collecting leaves and feathers to create a tiny shrine and then letting them float away in a mountain stream at exactly the moment her mum had died.
“In that moment, I knew… I had said goodbye to my mum, but also she was still here.” The style is intimate, reflective and often funny (wait until the universe hands her a brand-new packet of tissues right when she needs one). It’s ideal for anyone grieving, feeling low, or swapping alcohol for healthier ways to self-soothe.
If you’ve ever wondered whether a simple walk could actually help you feel better, this episode might be the nudge you need to lace up your shoes and see what happens.
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