I’ve been walking just about every day since just after the pandemic started. I believe it was mid April 2020. I work from home and the isolation was making me a bit stir crazy. They gyms were all closed back then and I knew I needed to get moving to feel better. I started slowly worked my way up to 8 miles a day which I learned wasn’t balancing for my knees. I’m settling in at a target between 6 and 7 miles a day. I’m not bragging it’s just a fact. It takes me about 2 and a half hours.
Someone in one of my yoga classes asked me how I find the time. I asked them how much time they spend in front of the TV or surfing the internet. Touchet.
So with fall weather upon us and having set our clocks back and it’s al little lighter in those wee hours of the morning walks are a little more bearable than they were in the summer heat of Florida. I was either out in the dark before the sun came up or sweltering in the heat and humidity. There is often multi-tasking going on. I have a good headset that enables me to hear ambient noise (like cars, bikes or other pedestrians) so I practice my Spanish on SpanishDic!, I listen to podcasts, I listen to recoded books on Audible. And yes I sometimes surf the net and scroll through social media. Hey at least I’m moving.
On and off over this adventure of daily walking I tried to “do nothing” I part just be mindful or still. I’ve committed to spending 20 minutes or about 15% of my time walking to Mindful Walking. Even if you are in a northern climate there are only a few days when that would not be doable if you are dressed warmly. If I can walk in 91 degree heat and 97% humidity you can walk in 28 degrees. c’mon.
I’ve read a lot of articles about walking meditation and what I’m doing probably isn’t technically what many describe as a Walking Meditation but here’s what it looks like. I set a timer on my phone for 20 minutes. Alternatively the park I walk in has a 1 mile path so one lap would be about 20 minutes. Then just like any other meditation I focus on one thing and watch for the thoughts to come up. That one thing might be the beautiful scenery around me, or listening to the sounds around me, or noticing my breath, or finally what I did this morning was just focus on the cool breeze against my skin. On my face and arms. I also took note of the warmth of the sun on my skin. In short a bodycentric or sensation based meditation. When the thoughes come up I would simply note that I was thinking and then gingerly bring my attention back to the sensation of the air or sun on my skin.
This is a challenging practice for me. I have a busy mind by nature and there is a tendency to plan, organize, make lists in my head (shopping lists are a personal favorite) It’s the same stuff that comes up in a more traditional sit but my mind is busier when my body is moving.
Have you tried mindful walking? Let me know your thoughts.