Instant calmer: a mindful walking weekend in Wales

A trip focusing on slow immersion in the natural world is the perfect way to unwind and restore mental harmony for this busy mum

A railway station concourse is a stressful place. Trains come and go, announcements call out, screens flicker, lights flash and people run in different directions. Yet it was this chaotic scene that I was being asked to imagine on a mindful walking weekend in north-east Wales – one designed to help me unplug from stressful situations and learn tricks to sooth my senses in day-to-day life. I lifted my head to look at the assembled group – my friend Cerys, Nicky (who runs her own hospitality business), Claire, whose company started this tour, and Belinda Gammon, a mindfulness guide and therapist. We were high on a hill above the hamlet of Llanarmon Dyffryn Ceiriog in north Wales, where only the sound of wind-rustled leaves could be heard.

“Think of your mind as being this station,” said Belinda in a slow, soothing tone. “Your thoughts are the trains that endlessly pass through, creating noise. You have the potential to jump on to any one of them – without really knowing where it will end up – but doing that can get you lost, confused, overwhelmed. Mindfulness
meditation helps us to observe the trains but not board any.”