Walking Conversations: Why I Coach in Motion

If you book a session with me in Nashville, I might ask if you want to walk.

Not everyone does—some conversations want a cozy couch and a cup of tea. But many of my clients have discovered that something shifts when we move our bodies.

The Body Knows

When we sit across from each other in a room, there's an implicit formality. Eye contact. Facing each other. It can feel like a performance, like you need to present yourself a certain way.

Walking changes everything. Side by side instead of face to face. Eyes on the path, on the trees, on the horizon. Less performing, more processing. Less thinking about what to say, more letting it come.

The body holds wisdom that the mind often blocks. When we move, that wisdom starts to move too.

What Science Says

There's actual research on this. Walking increases blood flow to the brain. It enhances creative thinking. It reduces the anxiety that can block clear thought.

Stanford researchers found that walking increases creative output by an average of 60%. Something about the bilateral movement—left, right, left, right—seems to integrate the brain in ways that sitting doesn't.

But beyond the science, there's something more primal happening. We evolved walking. For millions of years, humans processed their lives while moving through landscapes. Sitting still in chairs is the aberration, not the norm.

My Experience

I've had sessions in my office that were good. I've had walking sessions that were transformative.

There's something about the rhythm of walking that invites honesty. When a client is stuck, I've watched them literally walk through the stuckness—one step at a time, until something loosens.

And there are things people will say on a trail that they wouldn't say across a table. The movement creates safety. The nature creates perspective. The shared experience of walking together creates partnership.

The Nashville Context

Nashville has some beautiful places to walk. Radnor Lake. Percy Warner Park. Greenways through the city. I've had profound conversations on all of them.

There's something about being in nature that reminds us of our place in the larger picture. Problems feel more manageable when you're surrounded by trees that have been growing for a hundred years. The trail ahead becomes a metaphor for the path forward.

How It Works

If you're local and interested, we meet at a trailhead. We walk at whatever pace feels right. We talk, or don't talk. I ask questions. You process. Sometimes we stop and sit on a bench. Sometimes we walk in silence.

There's no agenda except yours. No pressure to make eye contact. No formality. Just two people walking together, doing the work of making sense of life.

The Invitation

If you're in Nashville and curious about walking conversations, let me know when you book. We'll find a trail that fits.

If you're not local, consider this: what kind of movement helps you think? Walking, running, driving, swimming? What would it look like to do your own processing while your body is in motion?

The body wants to help. We just have to let it move.