Walking Lightly
Moving through the physical world
For me, walking is a form of meditation. To me, walking is a spiritual practice. And I do an awful lot of it: Every. Single. Day.
Of course, I would be lying if I said that I was always in a state of meditation every time I walk. I’m not a freaking saint. Far from it.
For walking to truly be a form of meditation it must be done WITHOUT thought. It must be done with an empty noggin. Yes, it is advisable to watch where you are walking and to take in sensory data in order to navigate so that you don’t walk directly into a brick wall. But your brain can do that without conscious thought. What I am talking about are all those thoughts repeatedly streaming through your noggin that have nothing whatsoever to do with your walk.
As an example, allow me to describe my walk to work this afternoon. Luckily, I live only two and a half blocks from my part-time job. I always try to make my walk to and from work a meditation but I am not always successful.
During the first block on my walk to work this afternoon, my mind was going a hundred miles an hour. I was thinking about the stuff that I had to get done at work during my shift. I was thinking about all the stuff that I wanted to get done when I got home after work. I was thinking about this and about that and about a hundred other things.
I got to the end of the block and waited at the curb for traffic to pass before crossing the street to the next block. I felt almost tired. I felt heavy. I realized that my posture had slumped and I was not walking fully erect. And I realized that I did not even remember anything about that block I had just traversed.
As though to toss out all those thoughts in my noggin, I shook my head and took a deep breath. I stood taller then crossed the street.
That next block on my journey to work I walked in a meditative state free of thought. Some people call that a state of mindfulness but I call it a state FREE of mind; a state of thoughtless presence. I did not think of a single thing during the walk across that second block. I merely observed the world around me without thinking about it. I saw and heard the birds in the trees along the street. There were birds along that first block, too, but I did not even notice them.
I felt the hot breeze on my face and blowing through my hair. I felt the sun on my face and arms. I glanced up briefly at the clouds. I heard the delightful sound of a distant lawnmower. I noticed other people walking. I felt the aliveness of the world I was walking through.
When I got to the end of that second block I once again had to stop at the curb to wait for traffic to pass before I could cross the street. I felt invigorated. I felt very, very light. I felt taller and I felt like I had just passed through a bit of paradise.
Crossing the street, I maintained that thought-free meditative state for the half-block until I reached the door to the building where I worked. I have learned that going through that door is a lot different after a mind-free meditative walk than after a walk where my mind was going a hundred miles an hour. The peace and joy of a meditative walk can extend deep into a work shift and make the shift much less stressful and much more enjoyable. Going through the door with a frantically busy mind only leads to continued stress and less fun at work.
While walking is for me a meditative spiritual practice it is still so very easy to slip into old patterns of walking. That darn mind! It is only with conscious intent that I initiate and maintain that joyous, mind-free state through walking. It is a lot easier for me now than it used to be and I hope one day to always walk in that state.
I have learned that it makes a huge difference in my experience of life.
Copyright by White Feather. All Rights Reserved. This piece was originally written last summer, back when I had a job to walk to. Now I walk whenever the heck I want to. Writings by White Feather
More reading:
