Jen Zamparelli spoke to former military sniper and survival instructor David King about starting Wolf Walks Ireland to help people reconnect with nature and themselves. Listen back above.
When phones have become the main way that we stay connected in the world – from texting friends and family, working, following the news and even practicing mindfulness – it feels like more of us are craving an escape from the tyranny of technology.
That's what inspired King to find a way to help people connect with nature and our natural instincts, rather than relying on notifications and prompts from our phones, through his wolf walks.
"A wolf walk is an opportunity to jump off that speed train of life", he explained. "It's an opportunity for us to challenge our current situation, our mindset and what I do is I provide a thought provoking guided mindful walk in forests, mountains and lakes around this country and it's in good company."
A core focus of these walks is "life leadership skills", as well as a chance to "reconnect with your inner spirit, which is your gut intuition".
Each wolf walk begins with the group getting a list of safety notes and hearing what the plan for the day is. King then "read the energy from the group, because everyone brings different energy", before allowing the trip to "flow".
The group then hits the mountain or the trail and do a river meditation to take some time for themselves. "A walk of life", lake dips, physical challenges and plenty of silence to reflect on "where we are on our life map, our life GPS".
"A lot of people arrive on these things with a smile on their face, as we all do leaving for work: we close the door behind us, a smile on the face, we put on that Batman cape and go to work. But we don't share or allow people to see the internal baggage we have on that stress shelf where we're carrying past traumas."
Personal challenge is a key part of this, which King said he believes is an important habit to adopt.
"When we're moving around nature we become part of the eco-system, we get immersed in it, if we are open to it. A lot of us nowadays, especially since the pandemic, we go on these walks and we get to the top of the hill, take a selfie and head back home. We tick the box, we breathe when we get back home.
"Whereas if we challenge ourselves and we go on this walk, we notice ourselves, we notice our heartbeat, we notice when we walk up the hill how our breath changes, how our body changes, how we physically feel."
Inviting a small bit of risk into it is important too, King said, adding that "without taking risk, we're not gonna have any idea what life is all about".
Delving into the deeper questions about life, happiness and wellbeing is another part of it, with King saying that the scenario produces a lot of depth and feeling. "It's amazing how many people share stuff when they're in a group dynamic. I always say that the right people show up.
"It's very emotional, some people can be in tears. I've been in tears on every walk I've been on, because I've listened to the stories that people have told.
"But by the end of the walk it's like you have completed something and you have a little community and you shared and you've left go of something, which is fantastic, but also taken ownership of your life."
King himself has endured hardship, having lost his father when he was just 11 years old. "I had a lot of self-blame around his death. I felt he worked too hard, I felt that it was my fault that he was working hard to provide for us, so I went through a long period of my life where I struggled with that internal battle, the two wolves up there and my poor self-talk."
He said he hid his struggles from everybody, until he found a way to work through it. With that in mind, he initially came up with the idea of wolf walks for men who are in a similar position. Now, his walks are open to anyone who needs them.
Listen back to the full interview on RTÉ 2FM above.
