Pura Aventura Active Holidays in Comfort
The Story of The Big Stretch
"Stepping backwards to leap forwards: the story of The Big Stretch" by Rosie Walford, September 2006
"As often happens, the idea for The Big Stretch popped up at an unlikely moment – when I was on a boat in vast, craggy gorge in New Zealand. There I was, entranced by the landscape and feeling pleasantly small, when I noticed my neighbour gazing out with drooping features, furrowed brow. This engineer had a good home and job but he was feeling like a captive in his life - a life which had fit comfortably for years. Something, he couldn’t specify was Not Quite Right
Almost automatically I asked him some life-coachy questions – unusual ones – and had him describing aspects of a life he’d love. Soon he started with reasons why such freedoms would be impossible. I was loving the view and keen for him to lighten up, so I asked him how glaciers had flowed and carved the gorge, despite the rockhard granite. Then we played with ways that glacier behaviour might erode those stubborn obstacles in his life.
Boom! Suddenly this man stopped frowning and began jigging about on the deck. The worklife balance he longed for was do-able! He scurried off to write things down.
I pondered, gazing out on the gorge. Travelling is a time when we naturally step back and see the big perspective of our lives. In big nature, we get quiet enough to sense what is and isn’t true to us. Foreign-ness stimulates us. That’s why we all get i-could-change-my-life moments when we’re away.
But heady holiday inspirations often imply major change, and that’s scarey. Soon obstacles loom, and whether practical or falterings of self belief, they dampen the excitement or even kill the idea. Back in ordinary life, old expectations consume us, and the same old same old resumes.
Then came my epiphany. What if I introduced life coaching and creative thinking to a holiday somewhere wild like the Picos? People could take a look at their true wishes, then scale limestone peaks to get in touch with the way a kick-ass, inspiring future might feel. Walking through mountain meadows with coaches on hand, they’d let go of preconceptions, see their whole situation with fresh eyes. As they paddled down the Sella river, we could help them invent ways to break free of norms and make bold changes flow. They’d eat gorgeous food, stay in comfortable hotels. And we wouldn’t let them leave their trip without thought-through and realistic plans.
We’d combine Pura’s exhilarating adventure tours with a structured creative process. The Big Stretch would be the world’s first one-week holiday for people asking “What Next??!!”. Anyone ready for a new chapter could take a break and make rapid, life-defining shifts!
And (with a bit of timelapse) this is what it became. From The Big Stretch’s very first season, people turned up with all manner of questions, and left, buzzing, ready to kickstart a more extraordinary life.
Some people arrived with the itchy feeling that their work no longer expressed who they were.
Some shifted careers: There was the consultant losing faith in herself. Having succeeded all her life, she couldn’t do what it took to reach partnership in her city firm. In her coaching, she saw that while she liked her role, her values didn’t fit with her clients’. She named a deep interest in ‘helping the poor’, then narrowed its focus (who? where?). Then, with the help of lateral thinking, we invented ways to make her talents and experience relevant for managing aid projects, without starting at the bottom again. She now runs a country programme, in Bangladesh.
Some transformed their existing career: There was a man feeling so frustrated with design that he was looking for ways to escape. Stepping back, he saw it had gone wrong because of one soured relationship with a co-director. When he ‘rumbled’ his own part in that, he laughed, cried, and realised there was no need to leave the company he’d lovingly built. Instead he came up with a whole range of ways to rebuild faith, honesty and authentic communication at work. It’s a very sunny company again, doing gorgeous work.
Others came Stretching to look at the whole balance of their lives: relationships, homes, health, or how they might play their proper part in the wider world. There were women thinking through their options with ill husbands, no partners, problematic sons; a CEO wondering how to be the supportive father he meant to be; someone yearning to move her family out of London; a documentary maker getting clear how best to deploy his public influence; several people wanting to ‘do something about the environment’ without risking their family’s lifestyle; a confirmed bachelor wanting to change his ways, a social entrepreneur needing to adjust his idea, a couple planning retirement. Some just knew there was more fun and spontaneity to be had in life (and they were right).
A week tackling such questions head-on could be weighty rather than energising. And this is where the walking in big Spanish mountains comes into play. Having spent a few hours each morning being coached through exercises to stir up new perspectives, Big Stretch participants abandon rational thinking and head for the hills.
Of course the sheer fact of striding out in big nature gets stuck emotions moving. As lungs fill with clean air, psychologically, the hikes also help people make mental breakthroughs with ease:
Walking peacefully, staring onto magnificent landscapes, people naturally get back in touch with their intuition. As rhythmic movement slows a racing brain, the subconscious quietly incubates on the questions of the day and insights or ideas pop through. After the analysis and soulsearching of the mornings, it’s a light, effortless way for creative possibilities to unfold.
This ‘incubation’ of ideas happens whether people think as they hike, or switch off and enjoy the views. Many people use time on the trail to discuss thorny issues with their 2 coaches. And, as with the glacial gorge for the long-faced engineer, we help people use the crazy, beautiful gamut of rivers, plantlife and birds as triggers for their natural inventiveness.
By night we head to the local villages and ports to feast on fantastic regional cooking and fine Rioja’s. Spirits rise and rise.
Day by day, the Stretch thinking programme moves people forward on their individual journey. I’ve never been able to predict which part will tip the balance for who, but by the end of the week, I’m always amazed by the way that people have expanded their own possibilities, and changed gear. They go home rejuvenated, clear what they need to do when, ready for nothing less than a life spectacular. With blueprint in hand for action, they have much more than just a tan."
Says Guy Browning in The Guardian “The Big Stretch is not The Big Shrink: it's not counselling for the dysfunctional, but supercharging for the fully alive and functional...people who are stepping back slightly so they could jump higher.”
Rosie Walford