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The Skyros Blog

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Walking the Talk at The Grange

Skyros holistic holidays can be deeply transformational. Whether it’s opening your mind to new creative endeavours, uncovering powerful insights for yourself, or finding a like-minded tribe of fellow enthusiasts, people come home from Skyros holidays switched ‘ON’ to life. 

Whether it’s in the magic circle at Atsitsa, the lanes of Skyros town, or the gardens at The Grange, people have deep, moving and authentic conversations about who they are and how they live their lives. 

As with all transformational experiences, the challenge can be to transition the learning, insights and passion into sustainable choices and actions back home. It’s all to easy to slip the ‘new you’ to the back of the wardrobe along with the sundress and flipflops, and to slide back into business as usual.

Some people use a ‘letter to myself’ as a way of bridging the gap; writing themselves encouragements to remember key moments or to keep up with new habits. Others might choose to start a coaching relationship, being accountable to someone for making the changes they said they’d make. I’d like to suggest another way of activating one’s commitments and stepping into a vibrant new life.

Walking the talk. Physically putting your body through movement creates a powerful bodily metaphor of progress. Taking yourself for a hearty ‘walk & talk’ with a friend or even alone can be a great way to get clear on the steps you’re planning to take. And experientially locating your emotions on a particular landscape can make a thought process more tangible and vivid.

Walking the talk is a great way to get present to all that has been thought, felt, heard and learned on a Skyros holiday. And, as luck would have it, there are loads of great walks to do from Skyros locations.

Here is my recommendation for a great 90min walk from The Grange, which can be done on your own or with a group, during the afternoons or long summer evenings. Borrow a map from reception or follow these directions, or simply let your feet take you on the journey! 

  1. Head left onto Eastcliff Road and right into town. Branch left off the High Street onto Western Road and take the first left onto Hatherton Road. Follow this past the primary school then down hill on Sibden Road. Turn right onto Batts Road and straight ahead alongside the Scout hut into Batt’s Copse Nature Reserve; a damp and dingly dell of trees and a brook. Look out for three-cornered leek, frogs and red squirrels! There are also some handsome oak trees on the high bank to your right.
  2. Follow the footpath to the left, winding through the trees for 600m or so, until it emerges on Orchard Road then crosses over Victoria Avenue onto Westhill Road. At the sharp left turn by the cricket ground, turn off the road into an avenue of beautiful beech trees which will spill you out in another 600m adjacent to pretty St Blasius Church, a 900-year-old building with a beautiful churchyard. The Worsley Trail starts at the rear of the church, which is a longer and more challenging walk from Shanklin to Wroxall. One for another day, perhaps! 
  3. Coming out of the churchyard, visit the ducks at the pond in front of you and set out diagonally across the Big Mead recreation ground, or follow its broad tree-lined path around the edge if you prefer. You’ll pop out at the corner of Rectory Road where you should follow Pomona Road straight ahead, then take the first right, Grange Road, back to the junction at the edge of the Old Town. From here you can access the back gate of The Grange along Chine Avenue and surprise everyone by emerging up through the garden like an explorer!

Read more about Julia's courses here

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