Step into Presence: Lea Appleton on the Transformative Power of Walking

In this episode of the Passionistas Project, sisters Amy and Nancy Harrington talk with Lea Appleton, a Southern Californian who promotes the joys of mindful walking. Lea shares her journey from discovering hiking in Girl Scouts to falling in love with walking later in life. She discusses her transition from a career in higher education to coaching, and how she found solace and clarity in walking. Lea explains the concept of mindful walking, her experience with personal pilgrimages, and the impact of nature on mental health and wellbeing. She also details her efforts to incorporate this practice into group activities and her coaching, as well as future plans, including a new blog and book. The conversation highlights the transformative power of walking mindfully and Lea's hope for making life easier for women.

Listen to the full episode HERE.

LINKS

Website

Instagram

Facebook

LinkedIn

SHOW NOTES

[00:18] Meet Lea: A Journey of Walking and Hiking

[01:28] Lea's Childhood and Early Outdoor Adventures

[03:48] From Running to Walking: Embracing a New Passion

[04:58] Career in Higher Education and Transition to Coaching

[08:59] Discovering Mindful Walking and Personal Pilgrimages

[19:19] Mindful Walking: Staying in the Moment

[20:56] From Personal Practice to Group Walks

[22:03] Creating Wayfinding Experiences

[25:52] The Impact of Mindful Walking on Mental Health

[28:44] Personal Transformation Through Walking

[34:54] Walking in Community: Building Connections

[37:57] Future Plans and Aspirations

[39:18] Final Thoughts and Dreams for Women

TRANSCRIPT

Passionistas: Hi, we're sisters Amy and Nancy Harrington, the founders of the Passionistas Project, an exclusive sisterhood where women find support, purpose, and empowerment. On each episode, we share the stories of passion-driven women who are breaking barriers and redefining success. Today we're talking with Lea Appleton, a fourth generation southern Californian connected to place through walking from the beaches of the Pacific Ocean to the pinnacles of the High Sierra Mountain ranges.

She discovered hiking in Girl Scouts but fell in love eventually with walking. Much later in life. She is. Enthusiastic about welcoming others into the joys of mindful walking, whether it's a daily, multi-day long adventure or a daily walk in the neighborhood. So we're so excited today to talk to Lea Appleton.

I'm excited to be here too. Thank you for having me. Lea. I think maybe the intro was the answer to this question, but we'll gonna ask it anyway. What are you most passionate about?

Lea: Well, you know, it's interesting because. I would just say walking, but I think it's walking and wondering and hiking and backpacking and finding, finding places to move my body in the outside, so it's sort of walking.

Plus, I think that's what I'm passionate about.

Passionistas: So it sounds like that is something that, um, you were inspired by, even as a kid. So take us back to that time and where you grew up, what your childhood was like, and when you first discovered this love of the outdoors.

Lea: Sure. So I grew up, um, in a couple of places.

My parents were graduate students in Texas, so I lived there. We lived in the Philippines for a few years and then returned to Southern California about mid elementary school. And from that point on, um, I was active in Girl Scouts and that's where I got to go backpacking for the very first time. Um, my family took us camping.

That was our regular summer vacation, so I loved the outside. Because of my parents. And it's funny now in talking to him, especially my father, he's like, well. I, I didn't really love camping, but I thought it was good for you. I'd much prefer, you know, a bed in a shower. So I'm really extra grateful that he did this, that they did this to bring us into the outdoors on a regular basis.

So we've been through all the state parks and the redwoods and all that growing up, but in Girl Scouts, um, I wanted to do this back trip, backpack trip because it just sounded fun. I think I was about 10 years old, and I believe it was in the Santo Mountains here in Southern California. That's a pretty steep hill from what I recall then.

And now I've done it a couple years ago, again with my own daughter and um, but I remember just loving, moving. I liked going. Places. You know, some folks really love finding vacation or holiday time where they go and they find a place and they, they are, they don't have to sit, but they are in one place. I love going places and by walking and backpacking and hiking, that gets me to go from one place to another a lot.

So that was my, my first taste. I did some a little bit in high school. Again, my family didn't do it, so I would go with other groups of kids, uh, you know, chaperoned by grownups, and then kind of. Didn't really do it again for maybe a decade or so, and then, um, I remember. When I married my husband, we, I didn't have a down sleeping bag and that was like, oh, I really wanted down, like that was fancy.

And I really wanted a down sleeping bag. So we bought a down sleeping bag and I'm like, I'm sleeping in it tonight in the living room. You can join me if you want. And I was so excited. So that kind of, that was the kickoff of, um, my adult exploration. Um, my walking came because I used to be a runner.

That's why I eventually liked walking. I loved to run, I loved to run as a kid just to, it felt free. Um, I ran on the track team, that kinda thing. I wasn't a great runner, but it was super fun. And, um, but my joints have been going over the last couple of decades and so running really is just not an option anymore.

Not only is it, does it hurt, it's just wear that my joints and it's not healthy. So I've had to stop. Um, and so I walked kind of like. Angrily. You know, at first I was reluctant that I was kind of miffed, and then I started over a long period of time to really love that kind of slowness because you don't have that running.

Um, and it, it was great. It was really, uh, this, this cool thing. And I walk, I don't walk every day, but I walk almost every day. And, um, it's, it's really something that I have come to, to really enjoy. That's incredible.

[00:04:49] Passionistas: So let's go back to those years in between Yes. Those decade where you weren't walking and you weren't running and you weren't, well, you were maybe running.

But, uh, tell us about the time that the, your journey into working in higher education and community leadership. And some of the lessons you learned along the way during that time?

Lea: Mm, yeah. Well, and frankly, I loved my job working in higher ed and um, but I was really, really busy and that was one of the reasons why I didn't get outside as much.

Um, but that was my choice. I mean, I made that decision to do it in retrospect. Probably would've been good if I spent a few more weekends or summer weeks hiking or walking outside, but I didn't. Um, and I learned so many things I learned, you know, about working with people. I worked with a lot of international students I worked with, so I've worked with people all over the world, which is something that I do now, which I really.

Love being able to continue that. Um, I learned that, you know, everybody's on some place in their journey. Most of us, even my parents who, you know, we're of the generation that you grow up, you have a particular career, you do that forever and then you retire. Um. They still did lots of interesting things.

You know, they took their kids to another country, you know, they, they did other kinds of things like that. So I think many of us, um, and particularly now where, where careers change for all sorts of different kinds of reasons, economics, technology, um, we, our, our journeys are all really different. And that's something that higher ed, because students would come in and leave and come in and leave 'cause you know, they're only there for a few years.

Um, it really helped me see, wow, this is. This is really a constant flow of learning and growing. So that was something I learned from that.

Passionistas: So what inspired the move from higher ed to coaching and what kind of coaching? Mm-hmm. Were you, are you involved in? Were you in…

Lea: Yeah, so I took. I did a lot of listening in my higher ed roles.

Um, I was a dean of students for the majority of my time, and then I worked as an associate Dean for student Success, which is still listening and hearing what's going on and how can we help and things like that. Um, but I found. I thought that, you know, I'm a good listener, but I could be a better question asker.

Um, I didn't always know how to help people discover what was going on. Uh, really help them be able to articulate, um, what they needed and wanted in their life or in that moment. Um, so I did a lot of research and did some professional development and could. Took a coach training course, and I didn't really know what coaching was at the time.

It was new to me and I was really captured by it. I loved being able, it was the place where I didn't have to fix it. You know, as a coach, really, it's creating a space for people to be able to, to listen to themselves, talk and figure out what's going on inside of them and using, so the expertise that I bring is the question asking, you know, what, what do you notice?

You know, what do you see? What do you think? What do you feel? And, um, so that I really liked that switch. I had to help. Fix things that I couldn't fix in higher ed a lot. And so it, it was a, it was a welcome, uh, way of being with people. Um, and then COVID COVID kind of did it for me. Um, that was a difficult time, I think, for lots of people in schools of all levels.

And, um, at the end of when we kind of, as we were getting out of it, I thought, okay, this is, it's time, it's time for me to pivot. I wanna do something different. And at that point, I had really already begun walking and, you know, been back in the outdoors. Um. And I think I recognized that I wanted to do something different with kind of the, the last part of my career, um, before I retired.

And so I work as primarily as a career coach. Um, but really it's about people working with people in life transitions. So a lot of times it's, it's work related transitions, but sometimes it's other kinds of life transitions. And I think that goes really well with the idea of being on that journey and, you know, taking those steps and figuring out which path you take and are you prepared for the journey, things like that.

Passionistas: So a lot of those metaphors come into play, right? Great. So now you don't just walk, you do mindful walking. Yes. So tell us how that came about and explain what that is for people who don't know. Sure. So it,

Lea: uh. How it came about was, um, one of the things that I wanted to do as I was ending my career, um, in higher education.

I wanted to walk the Camino de Santiago in Spain. And, um, it hadn't been a lifelong thing, but in the last, the few years leading up to it, I was like, I'm gonna do this. And it's a long walk. Um, people, you can do any sorts of parts of it. There's many different pathways, and the particular one I wanted to do is about 500 miles.

So you do it over a long period of time. And we had our tickets. My sister and I were gonna do it together. It was a wonderful sister of trip planned, um, my younger sister. And we had our tickets and we were ready to go and we'd arranged all of, you know, our kids were still in high school, so we were all arranging other people to help figure out how to manage our, our, our.

Family life, um, besides our spouses and, um, then COVID. And so it was May, 2020 and Spain said, sorry, you can't come, and Air France canceled our tickets. And it was kind of a disappointment. So I had, I had the idea that people walked, uh, the idea of walking as a pilgrimage is to, is to spend really time and, and quiet.

Contemplation. Um, but a lot of people spend it in talking too because you meet people along the way. So there is this kind of combination of the quietness of being outside for long periods of time. Um, but I hadn't experienced it. You know, I, backpacking is a little bit different for me. Um, it's because I have to be mindful really where I put my step as opposed to being my, I can't really get lost in my head the same way.

Um, but so. I wanted to create my own. Ultimately, I was disappointed I couldn't go to do the Camina, so I decided I'm gonna create my own pilgrimage and I can do this. I live here, I can figure it out. And I decided that I was going to walk from my home to my sister's home. So it was kind of like the idea of walking together with her, which would mean that I'd have to somehow get out.

I wanted to walk down the beach. She lives in Solana Beach and so. I didn't wanna walk from here to the beach, so I decided I'd only take public transportation. So I got, I walked to the train station, I got on the train, I got off, I took a bus, took me down to Seal Beach, and I walked from the target parking lot in Seal Beach down to the coast.

And then I began my, my journey and it was, um. It was a wonderful time. I had intended to do all of it. It was about five days. I tended to do it by myself to be in some quiet thought. Um, and I didn't know what it was I was gonna experience, but I knew I just wanted to do it. It was like, I've heard people talk about there must be something there.

I wonder what it is. That was a real curiosity and, um. But then other people were interested. So my sister walked a day with me, my husband walked a day with me, and my 83-year-old dad walked a day with me, and that ended up being super great. So I had two days by myself and then three days with other people.

So it was a wonderful combination. The next year I was like, I'm gonna do this every year. I'm gonna do a pilgrimage every year. And I wasn't in a position, I was starting my business and really trying to get things going. I'm like, I can't really leave for a week. Plus, there's some costs involved. Time and money.

Um, so what can I do instead? And I thought, well, I. It could go on a whole day long thing. Like why not? Let's try that. And I don't even remember how the idea of way finding came up, but I'm sure it was something I read somewhere that kind of sparked my interest and I thought, well, I'm gonna go on a way, a way finding day, and I'm gonna find my way.

And I had decided that there were a series of questions that I had in my head that I needed to answer, and I was gonna go do that. That was my intent. But that didn't happen. What I found was, um, I took the public transportation again and I took the train out to Santa Monica and I just started to walk and my head was really busy.

I'm a very, I'm a, I have a busy head, busy mind, um, that's very full mindful and FULL kind of way. Um. And there's lots going on. It was a lovely day. Um, people were out 'cause it was February and the sun was out, so like, let's go to the beach and walk. And it was just like a lot going on. And so I was distracted and I'm looking at people and listening to sounds and I'm seeing all these signs of things.

And I sat down. I got to about Venice. I think it started to quiet down. And I started to journal and I started to journal about the signs that I had been seeing. Um, and they were random things like we serve brunch on Sundays. I'm like, okay, I wonder, I wonder what that's about. You know? Um, and there were more, there were more signs about businesses, about, you know, there's, there's lots.

If you haven't been down to that section of, of the boardwalk, there's many different kinds of things going on. So. I started to, to reflect on the signage that I saw, and then I noticed there were signs to slow down. There were signs to merge, there were signs to yield. And I, I began to ask myself those questions like, what, what do I need to slow?

Hmm? What do I need to stop? Where do I need to yield? What might these signs be asking of me right now, in this moment and in my life outside this moment? And that's when I decided, oh. Maybe for me, that's what wayfinding is. It isn't coming with the question of I'm going to solve this, which is sort of how a very analytical approach, right.

I'm gonna solve this problem and figure out what I'm gonna do for the rest of my life. That was kind of the, the approach that I had taken. And instead it became this like, Hmm, I wonder, Hmm, I wonder. And I began to walk and then as I kept walking, I got to the destination where I thought I'd stop and then I'm like, I'm gonna just keep walking.

I'm not ready to stop and you know, it was three or something in the afternoon. I still had plenty of daylight. I was gonna walk and. Then I began to feel this calm and this really like, wow, maybe I don't have to solve everything. Maybe I can just hold whatever it is. Maybe I can wonder about these things as I get inputs from the signs and the nature and people.

Um, and just take it as it comes. And so that's how my way finding day began, and that's how I really began to love. Walking and my walking changed at home after that, um, I would look for colors and I go, went on a rainbow walk where like every day I went and picked a different color and you know, the blue day was like, included the little smurf people that were in somebody's yard and a sign and a door, you know, like all that kind of stuff.

Um, so it wasn't, it was really interesting. I, I tried to always be open to people made things as well as, you know, what might be there in nature. Um. So it didn't always just go into my head. I used the process of what I saw, what I heard. And then reflected upon that. So that, that's kind of how it all began for me.

Passionistas: That's so cool. I love the idea of the Rainbow book.

Lea: I wanna Yeah, that's, yeah. Yeah. And I took, so like one day I was like, I'm gonna do red, and I, and I took pictures so that I could come back and collect it. You can see it on my Instagram. I have a little section of all my colors. Oh, cool.

Passionistas: Yeah, that's what I was thinking too, like it'd be great to do one that was mm-hmm.

Taking just one picture mm-hmm. At certain times. So that. Yeah. So that's cool that you do that. Yeah. Um, and what about the Camino de Santiago? Are you, is that still a long-term plan?

Lea: It's still a long-term plan. Um, it is. I had in my mind that I wanted to go and. Like May, June, and then every year we've had some sort of kid graduation or something like that.

That's sort of conflicted with that time. My sister now has a, a teaching position, which means she doesn't get out of work. So it's been a little bit awkward. So it's, the timing hasn't worked, but I've not given up on my desire to do it. I have decided though, that if. If it needs to be shorter, that's okay.

Or if, um, my sister can't go and my husband only wants to come for a week or two, or maybe like, you know, that I'm trying, I'm trying to hold it more loosely and um, but I'm sure, I'm pretty sure it will happen and I don't know. It will happen in the way I expect, but hopefully it will happen in the next couple of years or so.

Passionistas: How long were you estimating 500 miles was gonna take?

Lea: I think, uh, we estimated about 35 days, something like that.

Passionistas: That's amazing. Yeah. She meet you through Julie DeLuca Collins. Yes, yes. You know?

Lea: Yes. And she's done parts of it multiple times. And so yeah, we've talked, that is a point of connection for us for sure.

And um, and it's so interesting to hear people's stories because everybody's experience is slightly different. But there definitely is this, this pull, this yearning of like, there's something about, um. For me, it's about time. Mm-hmm. Like really, um, there's so few places even in my life now where I have a lot more control of my schedule and things, I, I don't always feel abundant time.

Mm-hmm. And, you know, that was what was so delicious about being able to walk on that one day and, and be like, oh, I think I'm just gonna keep walking. Like, wow, when can I do that? You know? So I definitely, um, you know, recognize the. The privilege in that. It's a, it's a really, um, I feel fortunate to be able to have moments where I can, you know, like my trip I was telling you out about before we started the recording, that, um, you know, last week we, I spent hours, hours walking and hiking in the, in the back country.

So being able to not have like, I have to be here by four 15 or whatever, um, that I think is part of also what makes it work well for me.

Passionistas: Yeah. But I also think it's an important lesson that you can make, even just your typical daily walk. More mindful. Absolutely. If you walk to a bus stop mm-hmm. And do that in a different way and not thinking about, oh, when I get to the, to my place of work, I have to do these 10 things.

But staying in the moment of, Ooh, I'm gonna look for the color red today.

Lea: Mm-hmm.

Passionistas: You know, incorporating that into your daily life.

Lea: Mm-hmm. And the idea of being mindful, 'cause that was back to your other question, the idea of being mindful and mindful walking. You can, I am a pretty strong believer that you can do almost anything mindfully, which means that you're paying attention.

Um, you know, John Cabot Zinn's famous quote is, you're paying attention on purpose without judgment. And so, um. Being able to pay attention to be aware, to notice all those, to be curious, to wonder. Um, you can do that around the block. You can do it to the bus station. You can do it. Um. In, in any, any form if you're intentional about it.

And sometimes it takes practice, and it doesn't mean to just like clear your mind of nothing, but it, it helps, it's a focused type of, of awareness and thinking. Um, and for me it's, it's more I'm willing to just kind of go where the thoughts go. I mean, that may not be the official mindfulness approach, but it's like, huh.

Interesting. You know, so I, I don't necessarily invite them to leave. I kind of follow them and see where they go and then they dissipate and something else comes in and, um, that helps me be more relaxed in the process of it. Um, but you're right. I think that, um, you can do mindful movement in all sorts of ways, right?

Passionistas: So now how did this personal walking practice evolve into walking in groups with other people?

Lea: Yeah, so. I told people about the pilgrimage and they thought it was kind of cool and a little like, Ooh, I don't know if I wanna do that right. But then when I said, I did this one day, and it was really great.

There were a number of people who were like, I, I'd like to do that. Um, could you help me figure something out? And so I began to, I created some way finding days, and I invited. A couple, maybe three summers ago, I did some prototypes, like, okay, let's just try this, see what it's like. So the first group was my friends, the second group was another group of friends, plus a few others, and then my sister and her friends.

And so I tried these, um, various experiences where, in fact, I found this the other day. Um, I had a little booklet. Um, and so it was walking for clarity and calm, and there were places along the way that we would talk and notice and, and, and have intentional questions for people to answer. Um, but it stemmed out of people asking like, what is this?

And can I do it too? And so that's how that began. And so that has been great. I did another one this summer where I collaborated with another coach friend of mine who also has. Published a book on haiku and we did, um, way finding haiku where we talked about, we did mindful practices on one stop, and then the next stop, like, let's collect a word bank for your haiku.

And there's all this, you know, rich visual and audio going on. We were down in Crystal Cove area of the beach and, um. So those have continued. Um, but one of the things I noticed that as I did this every month when I first started, I thought, I don't know if I can sustain this. And more people were asking, I wanna do this.

So I wrote a book about it and, um, took my experience, talked about the idea of way finding as this, as this sort of external noticing. And then using it for internal awareness. And, um, in the process of writing the book, I discovered, oh, I'm doing mindful walking. I, I hadn't made that connection initially.

Like this was this, it's not exactly completely the textbook definition of mindfulness, but it's pretty close. But I discovered it really on. By doing it. And so the book explains, I have a copy here, you can get it if you like. Um, it's on Audible and Amazon and, um, but I explained both what a mindful practice is just in general.

Which is the paying attention, right? The noticing, the being focused in the moment, being present in the moment. And then, um, talked about how one can do that, walking in all sorts of ways, or not walking. 'cause not everybody is able to do that comfortably, safely. Um, and so being able to adapt it into the ways that.

Other ways that you might be able to be mindful as well. Tell everybody the name of the book. Yes. The book is Walking and Way Finding here. I have to read it like I don't know it. Walking and way finding Create your Own Mindful Practice, one Step at a Time.

Passionistas: That's beautiful. Beautiful. Be, yeah. Yeah. Um, so do you have, um, any people who have come back to you from these experiences and shared with you how this has been a transformative experience for them? Mm-hmm.

Lea: Yeah. One of the thing, there are a couple of things that people say. One is that they were intrigued, but they didn't know what to expect and they didn't expect to. Come away with like some clarity and calm, actually, this sense of being, oh, when I'm paying attention to myself, they, they weren't exhausted and tired.

They were kind of open and, um, relaxed. And, um, they were able, even though I said that, you know, the idea of solving the problem. Isn't necessarily the in intent, you know, or maybe the intention, but might not be what happens. But I think for lots of people, things unravel right, or they are less tangled at the end of a time of, of walking.

So people have shared that, um, they didn't expect to like it as much as they did. Um, the Haiku one was really fun when people were talking about how, like, you know, they, they hadn't thought about. Doing a mindful practice. And then Haiku is really a form of reflection back on the things that they hadn't made that connection like, oh, I, I could do this.

And now I feel like I have two tools and skills that I can use, um, for that. Uh, I think I mentioned, I'm planning, I don't have a date yet set for it, but I wanna do with another friend of mine, um, uh, watercolor. And so that's something that I'm hoping to do. We may need to wait till it. Cools off a little bit.

It's a little hot right now for most of us in Southern California. Um, but yeah, so people I think are primarily surprised that. It's as fun and cool as it is. Yeah.

Passionistas: So how do you see mindful walking fitting into the broader landscape of mental health and wellbeing today?

Lea: Hmm. Yeah. I mean there's a lot of science that back.

Uh, the idea that wellbeing can be improved by being in nature, by being outside, by moving our bodies in easy, relatively easy, calm kinds of ways. Um, but I think. The thing that I really like about it in terms of, of mental health is that, you know, you can take a, a walking break. Most of us can take a walking break where we work or where we live.

Um, that's really short and, and even a short amount of time of just pulling yourself away. For me it's like I'm on the computer a lot and I need to just go be outside. Um, and the movement that it's relatively accessible. It's not really expensive. You don't, you don't have to have green space in order to do it.

Like I've done lots of walking in cities, um, walking alongside of roads and finding that to be, it's a different experience, but it, it is, I I would dare say it's, it's equally as expansive for me. It's just different. And so I think you can do it wherever you are. Um, and I think. That, that is helpful given that so many of us are in a hurry, are inside, are sitting, are, you know that there's so many challenges within, you know, the global landscape that are things to worry about, um, things to be truly, desperately concerned about.

So being able to just stop the spin temporarily. And it's not to say, um, that it fixes it, but it helps fix us to be able to deal better. With whatever, whatever we have to deal with. Um, so I think that, that walking can be, uh, a way for lots of people to be able to, you know, improve. That part of their life.

And it's physically for many of us, helpful and healthy. Um, you know, I always, you know, whenever I write or I'm, I'm, you know, speaking about something, I'll say, always check in with your doctor. You know, 'cause every body is different. But, but there are ways that one can move. And, and sometimes again, as I was saying, maybe it's sitting by a window, you know, maybe it's putting your fingers in the dirt in a garden box, you know, on your patio or something like that.

So, um. Doesn't have to be 12 hours of walking along a beach somewhere, like I might like to do or I have access to. Um, but I think that that lots of people, um, I think the other thing, you know, when you talk about the landscape of, of mental health concerns for lots of people is, is that it's one way. It's not the only way.

It may not even be the best way, but it's one way for people to feel better.

Passionistas: Yeah. And how has it transformed your life personally to Yeah. Write this practice?

Lea: Yeah. It's really, um, I was describing to one of my children how like, and some of it I'm sure is age, right? You know, I'm, this is my 60th year. I turned 60 in, in the fall, and I think, you know.

I don't angst in the same kind of way, which is remarkable, giving all the things that are going on in the world. But, but it, I've been able to develop a practice of, of walking, um, that allows me to, I think I mentioned, you know, stop that spin a little bit. 'cause my brain is gonna try to like, you know, go off and it's like, okay, just, just for this next moment, let's just be here now.

Put one foot in front of the other, take some breaths. Experience, feel, think, whatever. Um, so it's changed me, I think in that regard. It's brought, brought my level of, of, um, I've read a book once. It was about bicycle riding, and she talked about, uh, her metaphor, even though it was about bicycles, was that her idol was too high.

And I'm like, oh, that's me, you know. So it brings down my idol. So I idle a little bit, you know, more calmly and slowly because before, before I really had walking as part of my regular life and I didn't do that very well. Um, and then my health and my mind and my relationships. You know, noticed that. So yeah, I think that's definitely helped it for me.

And one of the things that's really fun, um, and in fact I did this this week, you know, because I knew I was gonna have this conversation with you. Um, I've been trying to connect the, the walking more. I'm not really, I'm not one of the coaches at least so far where we walk and talk. I know a lot of people do that, which is super awesome.

Um, I think I'd like to do that as a receiving end of coaching, but I, I haven't yet done that very much in terms of, of taking my coaching outside, let's say, and walking with people. But, um. You know, these way finding days, these ideas of being able to find, um, connections with other people, with yourself, with place.

I mentioned, you know, you when you walk, when you walk somewhere. You know, that place in ways you don't, when you drive, um, or take the bus or train or whatever, whatever, you get to see the cracks in the sidewalk, you get to see the little flower that's blooming on the side of the dirt path or whatever. So I think that, um, it's kind of a, a special relationship with, with, with self, with place, with people.

Um, so one of the things that I've just done. As I just launched, I have a blog that I have named Hip Hiker because I'm hiking with my my hip replacement, which I didn't mention. You know, my joints were going and I had a hip replacement last summer, and so I've really been focused since March, which is when I could finally do stuff again.

Um. To be able to, to walk again and to hike and to backpack. And so this blog is focused on people who are aging boldly and adventurously and wanna keep moving their bodies, which is, um, kind of fun for me because like when I was planning my trip, this backpacking trip I took last week and the, and two weeks before.

I love it that they're doing it. I wish I had been one of those 25-year-old kids who was doing it, but I'm not 25 and their blogs don't speak to me very well because I can't carry as much. And I, you know, so that it, the whole changes the itinerary, how much food I can bring, you know, all those kinds of things.

Um, I bring a lot more, you know, Advil and other things like that. My first aid gets really big. Um, and, um, but. I wanna encourage other people to be able to continue to do that. And you know, again, it starts with walking around the block with my hip. I couldn't even start with walking around the block. You know, you start with, let's walk to the bathroom, then let's walk to the kitchen.

And then my doctor was like, you can only walk to the corner. I'm like, okay. Because they knew I wasn't gonna follow Dr. You know, I wasn't, if I were left to my own devices, I might not behave properly. So, um, in terms of being a good, uh, recovery patient, so. I walk to the corner and then I walk to the next corner, and then I walk halfway and back and around, right?

So you can start with just a few steps if that's where you are. Um, and so this blog is to, um, encourage people and inspire people to do that.

Passionistas: Awesome. Yeah. You mentioned the possibility of intertwining the walking and your coaching, but what are, what are your future plans in general for your mindful walking practice and your coaching practice?

Lea: Well, I think that it's more rather. Well, I'll always do the walking and I'll always do the coaching, and I think the place of connection is the way that I view it. Mm-hmm. Um, this idea of, you know, wherever we are on our journeys, um, the idea that. In, in life's transitions or with whatever path unfolds and the choices and the decisions you have to make, whether it's on an actual path or whether it's in the path you're choosing in terms of your career or your life.

Um, that, that, those are the places of connection for me that they inform each other, um, and. I'm working on another book. I'm contributing to Julia's, Julie's book. Um, I'm continuing to share the ideas around wayfinding and walking and mindful practice. Um, my second book is about walking in community, and I think we talked about that the first time that, that we actually met that.

Um, that was the chapter I took out of my first book. Um, and so it's becoming a book all on its own, and so. For me, it's, it's the connections and the inform and the informing that each can do to the other. And then we'll see, I'll walk the path and I'll tell you about it as I go.

Passionistas: Talk about that concept of walking in community though.

Lea: Mm-hmm. Yeah. I love, so two, three weeks ago I went on this backpack trip with, um, six other women. And some of us knew each other really well, and some of us. Hardly knew each other at all. And, um, it was a, it was like a microcosm of, of the walk. So sometimes you walk together, sometimes you walk separately.

Sometimes you wished you were in the front and you wish they'd slow down and sometimes they wish you'd hurry up. And, um, you know, the, uh, do we stop here? Are you hungry? Like, so having to negotiate, having to communicate, having to take into consideration and regard other people's. Experiences, um, that I think is, is, you know, on a long community walk or hike or backpack trip, you know, is required.

But the other thing is I always think about in terms of walking, I have a regular walking partner and she and I have, it's, you know, we might go for an hour or something once a week, but you know, you're walking in next to each other. So it's kind of like parallel play. You're not facing each other.

There's not this sense of like. So your engagement's different like you're listening, but it's, it's you're, you're side by side and so there's something about that. It reminded me. And I think I shared this idea with you before, it reminded me of when I would like drive and talk to my kids when they're in the backseat.

You know, like they would tell me things that they might not tell me if I were sitting like in their room going, so how was your day? They'd be like, leave me alone, mom. Right. So, so in some senses I think there's a, a freedom when you're walking with someone and. Just next to them. But then there also is time where you don't talk, where you're just present.

So this idea of being present in the moment with someone, it's almost as if they're witness to your steps or they're witness to your space. Um, and so especially if you have someone that you do that with regularly, you become comfortable in ways of talking and not talking. Um, so I'm exploring that. I'm exploring how, um.

The idea of communication happens. How? The idea of building resilience, one of the things that's really important to me in the work I do is, is resilience and one of the. One of the places that people can build that is in community and connection. Um, so of not feeling alone. Um, another way is feeling calmer and more relaxed, right?

So I think that the walking with people connects a lot of different pieces of being able to build a resilient self. Um, but I'm still exploring that. I'm still writing, still thinking, um, but I think that there's lots of possibility. And what is interesting to me is I don't always walk with other people.

I like to walk by myself. Mm-hmm. And, and I. Sometimes we'll catch myself, like, I'm gonna call, no, actually, I'm just going to go by myself. So being able to know that, that I can do it both ways, and they're, they're different and, and they both can serve me well.

Passionistas: So how can people learn more about what you do and get in touch with you?

Sure. Well, hip hiker.com

Lea: just launched, so you can go on there. There's not much there yet, but I have about, uh, I have 55 walks that I've done since I turned 55. I'm in the process of riding them all up and, uh, so over the course of, of August, it'll officially get more filled up. Um, I can also be, uh, I have a website that is appletoncoaching.com and that talks about my coaching things and, um, I'll, I'll give.

Because it's just official. I just got my letter from the county of, um, Los Angeles. I am in the process and I'll announce it. Here I am in the process of changing my business name from Appleton Coaching to Wild Way finding, because I think there is something that captures a little bit more of the spirit of, of the kind of coaching that I do.

Um, and so eventually appletoncoaching.com will become wildwayfinding.com, so that's kind of fun. Congratulations. That's a huge step. Absolutely. And you can find me on LinkedIn and I have an Instagram and Facebook and all of that with my name. There aren't too many. Lea Appleton's, Lea Appleton. So people can find me there as well, and I'd love to connect.

Passionistas: Awesome. So one last two part question. Okay. Which is, what is your dream for yourself and what is your dream for women?

Lea: Hmm. My dream for myself is that I can know how to grow and build what I'm doing within the world and how to also let it go, because at the age that I am, I'm not gonna be doing what I'm doing now for the next 20 years.

I'm in a different faith. Right? So knowing when. When to grow and know when to let go. So that's my, my dream for myself, because I think knowing myself, well, I can get into the head, I might start thinking a lot. So I might have to do an awful lot of walks over the next 10 years or so. Um, but that's a dream for myself to, to have a sense of true knowing of which, which, and when is the right, the right call, and what I hope for women.

Mm. You know, this is. It kind of catches me in my throat as I think about this. 'cause what I really, really hope for women is that it just isn't so hard because I think that, um, in spite of all particularly, I mean, whether we're talking about the, you know, the United States or North America or the world, you know, there are definitely people who have a lot more rights, a lot more privileges, a lot more access.

And it's still hard. And so I guess my dream would be that it becomes less hard, that it becomes smoother, there's more ease, more calm, that it doesn't feel like a fight or a struggle quite as often as it might for many of us. Yeah.

Passionistas: Thanks for listening to the Passionistas Project podcast. As real life sisters, best friends and business partners, we know how rare it is to have a built-in support system.

But we also know that so many women activists, solopreneurs, and purpose-driven people are out there doing it alone and wishing they had a community like ours. That's exactly why we created the Passionistas Project Sisterhood. A space where support, trust, and authenticity come first. When you join, you become part of our extended family.

You'll get the tools you need to grow your business, develop personally, and create real social impact. You'll also learn from our power Passionistas leaders, change makers, and experts who share their wisdom on everything from letting go of perfectionism to embracing community and stepping fully into your purpose, whether it's through online meetups.

Chat spaces, Passionistas TV and the Passionistas Podcast Network or our exclusive workshop series. You'll be surrounded by like-minded women and gender non-conforming folks who are just as passionate as you are about living with purpose and making a difference. Visit thepassionistasproject.com to join our free membership and become part of this growing global sisterhood of passionate change makers.

We'll be back next time with another inspiring Passionista who's breaking down the barriers and defining success on her own terms. Until then, stay passionate.