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Rabbi Dr Harvey Belovski, Rabbi of Golders Green Synagogue and CEO of University Jewish Chaplaincy.

On Monday, my wife and I and our three younger children will be off to the Alps on our annual jaunt.聽 We drive across France to spend a few weeks talking, walking and reading, interrupted by lots of sleeping.聽 It鈥檚 one of the highlights of the year and to be honest, it can鈥檛 come too soon.聽 Starting to pack up reminded of why I love walking in the mountains.

A few years ago, I met a very unusual man 鈥� Professor Avi Kluger 鈥� at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.聽 Although it was the first time we鈥檇 met, he asked if he could use me as a guinea pig for a technique he鈥檇 recently developed.聽 I was to choose a hobby 鈥� I went for mountain walking.聽 Then I had to describe how walking feels from my own perspective, from the standpoint of the hobby itself and finally from the viewpoint of an onlooker.聽 It was strange to pretend to be mountain walking itself and explain why I thought Harvey Belovski enjoyed spending time with me!聽

Then I understood that Kluger was encouraging me to see that walking gives me something that was missing in my extremely hectic life: a sense of completeness 鈥� wholeness of body and mind.聽 Then he asked the killer question 鈥� how could I achieve that vital sense of wholeness during my regular workday?聽 I had a few suggestions 鈥� walking, cycling 鈥� but by now I was hooked and I鈥檝e used this practice on other people.

I learned many things from Avi Kluger.聽 A short meeting can change your perspective on life.聽 Simple ideas are often the best ones.聽 It鈥檚 possible to introduce small changes to our daily routines that have a major impact.聽 Finally, we can be the architects of those changes ourselves, but we may need a hand to make them happen.

It鈥檚 an ancient Jewish idea that we hold the keys to our own development.聽 The biblical book of Proverbs mentions that 鈥榗ounsel in a man鈥檚 heart is like deep water, but a man of wisdom will draw it out鈥�.聽 Each of has hidden depths which we can鈥檛 always access on our own.聽 But if we鈥檙e open to it, with the right assistance, we can unlock our potential and transform our own lives, even without visiting the Alps.