Walking is a Practice
Walking is a practice.
Who knew?
It can be a spiritual practice as well as a sacred time for the soul.
Going for a walk can be a time to replenish your spirit, soothe your mind, and allow for your creative juices to flow. I often get so many amazing insights on my walks I can hardly wait to write them down!
This beautiful spring morning, as I went on my walk, I admired the lushness all around me: green lawns, flowering dogwoods and redbuds - fresh on the heels of the majestic cherries in bloom recently. The birds were chirping all around me - having a party - cardinals, robins and a pair of blue jays, joyfully flying from tree to tree.
Why do I say that walking is a practice, and perhaps a sacred one at that?
Because taking a walk is an invitation to dwell in the present moment. And that, is simply, the only time there is, and the only time we have. It is an invitation to experience mindfulness. Rather than rush through our day, we might find ourselves slowing down, and stopping to smell the flowers as it were. Taking a walk invites us to let go of worries and concerns, the news, and instead immerse ourselves in beauty.
There is something very healing about being in nature.
During the pandemic, I was always amazed on my walks to notice squirrels frolicking about, and birds in animated conversations from limb to limb, totally oblivious to what was going on all around me. It was a constant reminder that some things were all right in the world.
Almost 30 ago, I had the privilege to spend a day with the Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh. We walked mindfully, ate mindfully, and sat in meditation.
I remember being struck by how he ate - he was so present to the experience it blew me away - eating his rice so mindfully - that it seemed he was loving and admiring and consuming one grain at a time, while I had devoured my own lunch pretty quickly!
So here is the thing: We can choose to make our walks more mindful - and allow them to nourish our day and our souls - or, not.
I am saddened when I see people on their phones as they walk, oblivious to the beauty all around them, instead multi-tasking.
How will you choose to spend your day? You can approach anything in life more mindfully and vibrantly, aligned with all of creation.
I can't think of a more wonderful way to live.
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