The month of May was all about looking after our mental energy by getting into the outdoors to walk and talk about an issue or brief that was important to us. We wanted to see how this can help us to get clearer on what’s important to us, help us to process complex situations and even help reduce stress levels.
Research shows that walking opens up the free flow of ideas, and it’s a simple way to increase creativity. According to research from California State University, it can also improve energy and mood.
Our expert to guide us through how best to get out there and start walking and talking in May was our very own Chris Barez-Brown. Chris is the creator of Talk It Out, a technique we have recently launched as a Social Enterprise. We’ve been researching Talk It Out with Bristol University and have found that 85% of people who took part felt better afterwards and as though a weight had been lifted from their shoulders.
The feedback from our group doing Talk It Out this month was…
We knew from the research we’d done that Talk It Out would bring more clarity around the topics we used it on, but one of the biggest learnings was that whilst a lot of what we talked about at the start was stuff we already knew about (from our conscious brain), using Talk It Out gave us a fresh energy on that stuff…. So, even before any new ideas came bubbling up, we were experiencing a new energy and drive for some of the things that we thought we already knew…
Then we got into the subconscious thinking and having a buddy there to notice the changes in state that we experienced as we hit on topics and ideas that we had energy for was incredibly powerful in helping us to get some focus and feel more relaxed about topics that we’d been battling with previously.
Lastly, we all found that Talk It Out is incredibly connecting and brings you closer to the person you do the technique with. Even if you didn’t know them to start with, the simple act of walking, talking and sharing our thoughts with another person, without judgement felt good and created a sense of connection with that person.
So, when it comes to creating a sense of clarity and connection Talk It Out is an absolute winner, but the biggest learning for us has been how it also helped to re-energise us on some of the things we thought we were clear on already. By talking them out we found a renewed vigour and energy for these things, which was an unexpected and wonderful surprise… And definitely another reason or us to keep on using Talk It Out when we need a boost of clarity and energy.
Up next is Digital Detox in June… more to come on that next week. But for now, if you’ve not had a chance to try Talk It Out yet, don’t worry… you can find out more and watch videos from Chris explaining how the technique works and how to use it here: https://www.uppingyourelvis.com/talk-it-out or @talkitouttogether
Big Love
The Upping Your Elvis Team
