Vancouver Walk and Talk Therapy

02/19/2022

Enjoy a counselling conversation on the trail in the fresh air and safety of the outdoors. Call to book yours now.

02/15/2022

Difficult relationships in our lives often follow a certain kind of pattern. That pattern repeats itself - and will keep repeating itself - as long as we remain unaware of the childhood pain that drives it.

Relationships in our lives are often characterized by a certain kind of pattern. That pattern will repeat itself - and keep repeating itself - as long as we remain unaware of the childhood pain that drives it.

01/25/2022

Is it the achievement of the goal that pushes us forward or the curiosity to learn what we don’t already know? I’m not sure I have the answer. I do know, however, that there is a certain pleasure derived from the not-knowing.

Curiosity is a great motivator.

https://www.vancouverwalkandtalktherapy.com/blog-feed/curious-bends

01/10/2022

FREE TO JUST BE - Watch young children at play sometime. Really watch them. If you do, you’ll notice something remarkable. They don’t think about the future or the past. They don’t think about the way their behaviour might appear to others. They are completely and utterly lost in the moment. They are 100% here with what they are feeling and doing.

https://www.vancouverwalkandtalktherapy.com/blog-feed/free-to-be

12/16/2021

The holiday season can be a particularly stressful time of the year for people even without a pandemic. If someone you know needs to talk I will be seeing clients online from Dec.23 to Jan.2. Take good care everyone, Adrian.
www.vancouverwalkandtalktherapy.com

12/08/2021

The Ground Beneath Your Feet

There is a story in Greek mythology about a mighty wrestler named Antaeus. The half-giant son of Poseidon and the earth goddess Gaia, Antaeus would challenge anyone who passed by to a wrestling match. He would defeat and kill every opponent he met, and would add their skulls to the temple he had built in honour of his father.

The demigod Hercules happened by one day. Antaeus challenged him to a match as was his custom. Hercules, accustomed to winning any test of strength, readily accepted. He quickly found, however, that no matter what he tried he was unable to either throw let alone pin Antaeus down.

Feeling his strength waning and defeat near, Hercules suddenly realized something that turned the match in his favour.

Antaeus drew his strength from contact with the earth.

The second this fact dawned upon him Hercules took action. He wrapped his arms around Antaeus in a bear hug and lifted him clear off the ground. Disconnected for the first time ever from the secret source of his power, Antaeus was quickly crushed and defeated.

Allegorical tales like this one are designed to provoke. They are designed to wake us up to the way we are living our lives.

The story of Antaeus invites us to ask:

What is a true source of strength in my life? The one that makes me feel deeply ‘grounded’ or ‘connected’ to myself and to the world. Is it my family? The love of my spouse? The work I do? A wellness or spiritual practice?

Am I truly in contact with that source of strength right now? Do I make time on a regular basis for the people or the practices that help ground me when so much else feels uncertain in the world?

If I’m not in contact with one of my true sources of strength, how did I lose contact? What daily habits of mind or body do I engage in that work to ‘lift me off’ my ground and keep me disconnected?

Finally, what might it take to restore that connection? What conversation might I need to have, what might I need to let go of (or embrace) in order to start feeling more like ‘me’ again?

Questions like these are immensely valuable during this time of the pandemic. They help us define and reconnect with what is most essential for living. They alert us, too, to what we might need to do or change if we want a different sort of life.

08/19/2021

When we are very young our survival depends utterly on how well we are able to shape ourselves to the demands of the world. We learn quickly that our family, school and culture has clearly defined expectations of us, and that fulfilling these expectations often requires that we ignore – and if necessary, exile – the voice of our true Self.

By midlife, though, things often begin to change...

When we are very young our survival depends utterly on how well we are able to shape ourselves to the demands of the world. We learn quickly that our family, school and culture has clearly defined expectations of us, and that fulfilling these expectations often requires that we ignore – and if nec...

08/04/2021

“Sometimes the truth depends upon a walk around the lake.”

07/27/2021

The right question, asked by the right person at the right time, has the power to jolt us awake to the ways we have been asleep in our lives.

07/19/2021

A poem I wrote inspired by the ground-making work of forest ecologist Suzanne Simard and mycologist Paul Stamets.

A poem inspired by the ground-making work of forest ecologist Suzanne Simard and mycologist Paul Stamets.

07/13/2021

Excerpt from a recent post in Alain de Botton’s School of Life.

07/05/2021

When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in.

When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in