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Why 100 Walks?

Our community is centered around a goal of taking 100 walks because transformation doesn’t happen all at once. It happens step-by-step through consistency and commitment over time.

When you commit to 100 walks, you are giving yourself time for your mindset to shift. You are allowing yourself to learn through experience. You are committing to a structure but no strict deadline. The focus stays on the quality of presence and appreciation in each walk, not speed.

In the end, yoau’ll feel fundamentally different on walk 100 compared to walk 1. The incremental progress leads to transformation. That’s the power of 100 Walks.

My Story

I began walking because of a spur of the moment decision to take a walk.  I was in the midst of a painful breakup and I wanted to get away from myself and everything I was feeling. On that walk, I experienced tiny moments of peace for the first time since the breakup happened and a thought popped into my head – what would happen if I took 100 walks?

For the first time in a long time, I felt hopeful.  I decided I would just do it.  I would do it in pain, I would do it in sorrow.  I would do it in hope. I would finish 100 walks no matter what. And I did.  It was a life-changing experience and one I knew I needed to share, one that reconnected me with nature, that allowed me to grieve out in the open, that helped me see the beauty of life even in the midst of pain.  My goal now is to help as many people as possible to discover how walking can help them rediscover their love for life.

Me on one of my first 100 walks wearing my favorite pair of converse

(now long gone 😥 100s of walks will do that!)

Mindful Walking Tips

Keep It Simple - Walking is naturally healing. Keep your walking practice simple, especially during your hardest times. Go deeper when you can but remember it is enough to just get out and walk.
Connect With Nature - As you walk you will come to see nature as your ally & friend. Nature shelters & inspires. Spend time on your walks exploring your relationship with nature.
Stay In the Moment - Pause often. Notice your surroundings, notice your own feelings, and give yourself the chance to breath. Often this leads to moments of peace during tumultous times.
Be Consistent - Create a walking practice. Commit to a set number of walks every week. Some of these you may not want to take but by taking them you will push past barriers. Consistency creates more opportunity for change.

Walking is a way to move beyond your pain, to grow stronger while allowing yourself space to heal. Remember, every step you take is a step forward.

The 100 Walks Toolkit

Supportive tools for transformative walks

Supportive Tools

Having taken 100s of walks since my first walk, I’ve learned that if you can bring intentional energy, even the tiniest sliver of energy (literally if you can take one step forward), your life will raise up to meet and support you. To make this a little easier, we use a framework that includes connecting with Nature, practicing mindfulness, cultivating gratitude and kindling awe.

Nature

The easiest way to connect with nature is to get out into it.  Walking gives you the opportunity to do that easily, even in an urban setting you feel the warmth of the sun and marvel at the sky.  As part of our walking practices we work on deepening our connection with nature. Sometimes this is simply done by noticing it, other times we find ways to communicate with nature.  The goal of these activities is to open up a dialogue between you and nature.

Gratitude

Many studies have been done on the power of gratitude.  Walking naturally increases it.  You can’t help but appreciate a sunset or a beautiful flower.  With every walk that we take, we practice gratitude.  Sometimes this is done through specific exercises and sometimes we just name the thing that makes us grateful on our walk.

Mindfulness

As we walk, we find that our environment or even the movement can pull us out of our thoughts and bring us to the present.  Being present allows us to step out of our pain for a short while.  One of the core ways we bring mindfulness into our walks is to take pictures of what we see on our walks.  Whatever draws our interest can hold us in the moment.