Wellbeing activities
In the thirteenth century, St Thomas Aquinas conceived of the human as a compound of body, mind, and soul. There were no perceived divisions in the Middle Ages between physical, mental, and spiritual health. We embrace this notion of the embodied mind and encourage you to become a Paston 'WALKER'.
WALKER tool
We invite you to enhance your experience of the Paston trails by becoming a 'WALKER'. The acrostic* provides inspiration for ways to do so and provides links to help you choose wellbeing resources for the style of walking that you wish to do.
* acrostic means the first letter of each section spells out 'WALKER'.
Scroll to find out more.
W is for wellbeing
We walk for the health of our minds and bodies. Walking is a free form of exercise, boosting our step count and may help improve strength, heart, lung and immunity functioning.* A walk can help focus the mind in order to solve a problem, or simply be a time to rest the mind and enjoy a peaceful connection with Nature. It can also be a chance to chat with a friend.
*Please seek professional medical advice about walking if you have any health concerns.
The walk overviews provide free GPX fitness codes and access audits detailing terrain descriptions. The walks near me allows you to build activity levels. Check out how the Paston Wellbeing Walk experiences off the beaten track offer activities for mindful moments, and stimulating or relaxing sensory connections with Nature. Follow us on social media for occasional group-led sociable walking events:
A is for action
A walk can be enriched by taking photos, doing a family Explorer Hunt trail, developing map reading skills, listening to the Paston dramas on the audio trails or having a picnic. Wellbeing can be about sensory stimulation through mindful moments. Experience art activities, poetry experiments, or creative story-making, with inspiration from your rambles in the countryside.
Extend your walk experience after you get home with:
all-age creative activities,
or heritage research.
L is for learning
The Paston letters unlock
Heritage research thisispaston
National Curriculum
World in which we live today Why not learn about the local history around you or the flowers you can see or birds you can hear?
K is for keepsakes
What will you bring back from your walk?
A leaf? A wildflower to press?
A souvenir from a church?
A new historical fact? A curiosity to find out more?
Perhaps inspiration for creative writing?
A sensory or spiritual awareness of the beauty around?
Your keepsake could be that you take a photo to capture the moment. If so, might you share a picture with us? Tag #pastonfootprints
E is for environment
The outstanding Norfolk landscape and local wildlife is best encountered by foot. Paston countryside offers an intriguing tapestry of trees, plants and eco-systems. On your carbon footprint friendly activity, you could be pro-active in caring for the environment by doing a bit of litter picking. Scattering some native wildflower seeds. Or engage all your senses and tune fully into your environment, creating an immersive connection to your walk. From beaches to forests to country lanes, each walk has its own magical atmosphere that will change with the seasons.
Explore the pictorial walk overviews on the places tab or follow us on Instagram for uplifting pictures of Norfolk's beautiful landscapes.
R is for re-imagining
Every landscape and every track retains memories, which can be revisited from the earliest through to recent times. Our heritage trails enable you to experience walking in the Paston family footsteps. Uncover their stories in a creative and immersive way.
Check the heritage walk pages for more of the story.
Explore the creative prompts.
Watch the Paston Youtube videos and interact with the digital reconstructions of Paston homes and churches.
Paston Walking Styles
The Pastons were 'Experts-by-Experience' walkers. Fleeing the putrid Norwich air, trailing around London markets to find treacle, or foraging for herbs mark coping strategies to deal with pestilence. Going to church, walking around tenants’ lands and to the markets were well trodden daily living routines. Travels between houses tell stories of family dynamics and social ambitions. Scribal networks, conveyancing of letters, and walks to lend books map literary networks. Royal entries and funeral processions speak to ritual walking. Hidden walks for lovers to meet, fleeing domestic abuse, and encountering boisterous neighbours take place. Unexpected walls blocking paths, feeling invading foreigners along the coastal path expose contested walks. Refusing to walk out of your home under siege reveals personality!
How would you describe the types of walking you have done in the past 24 hours?
Pioneering research
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Are you a member of a wellbeing group or a Health or Humanities disability researcher? Are you interested in how diverse sensory, embodied and cognitive interpretations of heritage can centralise creative health? Or how to do heritage storytelling in new ways?
Take part:
Please get in touch with Dr Karen Smyth to explore research and co-production possibilities. We are seeking Experts-by Experience as well as Health, Creative and Heritage practitioners and academics. We are also keen for public volunteers to try out our ideas on the walks.
See Karen's UEA profile here.
Project email: pastonfootprints.co.uk visitors to your site with a short, engaging introduction. Double click to edit and add your own text.