Elvis Walks and Talks It Out
If you could adopt one simple exercise that brings mental clarity and release, would you? Last week I had the opportunity to employ a new technique at Elvis Walks and Talks that does just this, with Jim Lusty.
Who is Jim Lusty? He’s a speaker, trainer and partner at Upping Your Elvis; a company designed to help people to ‘unleash their innate human genius, shake up the status quo and bring energy to everything they do’. They’re in the business of instigating inspiration, creativity, confidence and consciousness. In short, he’s a high vibration, high achieving, highly enjoyable human.
Elvis Walks and Talks are, what you could call, ‘walking therapy’ events. They’re run by either Jim or the equally charismatic Chris Barez Brown.
I was lucky when the date came, as it was a heavenly day, one where the sun blanketed everything in sight. Gusts of crisp, cool air provided welcome relief from the heat — London isn’t used to temperatures creeping above ‘chilly’ this early in the year. I had a great feeling about this, despite not fully understanding what I was getting myself into.
We were instructed to meet at the Serpentine Lido, Hyde Park, and ‘find the chap holding an Elvis Walks and Talks sign’. That was Jim. In typical Cathleen fashion I got hopelessly lost on the way. Did you catch my Instagram story on Lush Life last Wednesday? I recorded the beginning of that between hasty jogs on my way to the cafe, hence the wildly-windswept look! I arrived (apologising between stifled gasps) only moments after a young, bespeckled man who had also lost his way to meet Jim. Our mutual tardiness made introductions easy — he had a welcoming energy about him. His name was Ed.
Before explaining what we would be doing, Jim took time to explain why he had invited us all there. He spoke about how we, as predominantly social creatures, with a natural aversion to loneliness, could benefit greatly from the exercise we were about to do. He explained that we were all there to experience rewarding, new connection. I found myself sceptical, and wondering how we were expected to do that in a mere hour…
We were split into pairs (I was with Ed) and instructed to go on two walks together. The first meander was very short, designed to be only long enough for each of us to list what we consider to be wonderful aspects and assets to our lives. This gratitude practise was intended to both release endorphins (the happy hormone), promote positive thinking and acquaint us — which it did. Both of us felt very at ease with each other after finding common ground (I live in Bournemouth, Ed went to uni here, I travelled in Australia, he recently came back from living there).
The second walk (the main event) was more of a challenge. We set off on a lap of The Serpentine lake to monologue for fifteen minutes each. We could talk about anything at all, with the only conditions being that our partner wasn’t allowed to interject at any point whilst the other spoke, and neither of us were permitted to disclose what the other had talked about. The latter condition is an important one to honor, as the bounties of the entire exercise rest heavily on mutual trust and understanding. When your time is up, your partner takes a minute or two to reflect on what you’ve said. It was pretty difficult to fill the time. You don’t realise how hard it is to talk about yourself until you’re asked to do it for that long! I didn’t know where to start. I began with my life story as I figured that’s the most obvious origin to go from, but I kept wondering if I was doing it ‘right’. I covered everything from my favourite animal, break-ups, experiences at work, aspirations, insecurities, the whole gamut! I kept laughing as I found the whole thing really very funny, but it was equally profound. Ed’s summary of me once my time was up was extraordinarily accurate: he deduced that I’m spontaneous, but love routine, and a traveller at heart who struggles to stay in the same place, or circumstances for long. He saw that I want to be everywhere at once, traversing the globe but still working in my current job which causes some internal conflict. I didn’t realise I’d divulged so many insights into my psyche!
It was Ed’s turn to speak next, but what’s said at Elvis Walks and Talks, stays there, so I won’t share any of our conversation. All I will say is that he seemed to enjoy and get a lot out of it. We had a great chat about all manner of ‘real stuff’ in the round up. He let plenty of barriers down and spoke honestly, which I enjoyed listening to and resonated with. It was like speed dating, but with a new friend!
We all met up again and briefly talked amongst ourselves about how we found the whole experience. Everyone I spoke to seemed lighter and brighter on their return. Before even speaking to anyone, the positive effects of what we’d just done were visible in people’s body language and facial expressions. Jim held a quick debrief recapping on the exercise and bid us farewell. He kept bringing home the importance of connection in all aspects of our lives, and encouraged us to bring what we’d learned back to our personal and professional lives for the benefit of ourselves, our friends and colleagues. It was a fantastic, and truly valuable day.
Why I loved it
When people get together, what’s often asked is ‘what do you do’. I have an aversion to this question. People usually mean ‘what do you do to make money’. I’m lucky I do something I enjoy to make mine, so it’s painless answering, but it implies that what you do for an income is assumed as some sort of identity. I always want to unfurl a huge carpet of answers and stories when someone cracks this question out… ‘I make tinctures, drink tea, I travel, I cook’ is my usual response. This is often met by ‘Yes, but what do you do?’. I found Elvis Walks and Talks fantastic as it forces you to cut through any of this idle chit chat and get down to the wonderfully authentic aspects of the person you’re sharing company with — for some people their occupation factors into that, and for others it doesn’t. Both ways are totally fine. The day’s events were a great reminder that in order to find that genuine connection quickly, getting straight to being open, honest and vulnerable is key. Create this space and some magical stuff happens!
Recap time…
How it’s done
Grab a mate (new or old) and just walk, slowly. I’d recommend you do this in a creatively stimulating place, or nature area. Reiterate that your conversation will be confidential before tumbling into a 15 minute monologue each, followed by a collaborative ‘round up’ after each one. What can you talk about? Anything.
Shall I go in with an intention?
If you want. If you’re seeking a cathartic release from general life stresses then I’d recommend going in with something as simple as that. You could go with the intention of untangling a creative problem, or working through a personal dilemma if you want too. Heck! Why not change things up a bit and introduce the idea for your Monday morning team meeting, or use it as an HR tool in your business? The possibilities with this technique are vast and versatile, depending on what you want to gain from it.
The results
You should leave feeling emotionally lighter, more in control (if your collaborative ‘round up’ helped you to break out of any ‘tunnel vision’), and with a sense of fulfillment. According to research, this last effect is due to our deep-rooted human desire for connection, which you’ll have hopefully satiated through chatting to your partner. For many, strolling and talking your mess of thoughts out can also serve as a great creative boost.
This is a fantastic technique for practising self care, whilst extending it out to other people at the same time. If it stands to make us that little bit happier and productive, then why not give it a go? I would highly recommend it.
If you’ve made it this far I’ll assume you’re interested in reading more about Elvis Walks and Talks, and Upping Your Elvis! Check out the links below:
Elvis Walks and Talks event page
Upping Your Elvis website
You can connect with Jim Lusty and Chris Barez Brown here, and here.
Upping Your Elvis website
You can connect with Jim Lusty and Chris Barez Brown here, and here.
