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Would you like something to make you feel happier? Healthier? Live longer? Improve balance — as well as blood flow and digestion — lowering your blood pressure at the same time?
Well, it’s available to you at ANYTIME… and guess what? — — It’s totally FREE!!!!!
What is it???
Mindful walking.
You mean — just taking a walk?
NO….. MINDFUL WALKING means NO music, no talking and NO cell phone… simply the enjoyment of SLOW walking, surrounded only by your thoughts, the sounds of nature and your own footsteps.
MINDFUL WALKING means walking in such a way that we notice every step.Becoming aware of the contact of our feet on the ground as well as of the flow of our breathing, we FREE ourselves — from thinking, regrets, anxieties, preoccupations…
As we become conscious only of taking one step, then the next step, then the next — we begin to harmonize our steps and our breath…
We become mindful of our whole body as we walk; tensions begin to relax… we feel the miracle it is to be walking on this amazing earth… We become more aware of the beauty around us — trees, flowers, sky… 5 4 3 2 1 is an interesting mindfulness walking exercise for you to try as you go. As you shift all your attention to each present moment, notice:
5 things to see
4 things to touch
3 things to hear
2 things to smell
1 things to to taste
Thich Nhat Hanh ( 1926-2022 ) — a Vietnamese monk, peace activist, prolific author and beloved community leader and teacher — was known as the “father of mindfulness” — or the “energy of awareness.” He emphasized the practice of mindful walking as a profound way to deepen our connection with our body and the earth. He remarked that if we were walking to a sacred place, we would take each step with gentle reverence… he proposes walking this way always!
“We should be very respectful because we are walking on our mother… we are in a holy sanctuary. If we walk like that then every step will be grounding, every step will be nourishing. Each mindful breath, each mindful step reminds us that we are alive on this beautiful planet! It is wonderful just to be alive, to breathe in and to make one step. We have arrived where real life is available— the present moment.”
Next Sunday, in celebration of Earth Day, the choir will sing WALK AND TOUCH PEACE (click here to listen) based upon the words of a poem written by Thich Nhat Hanh.
Walk and touch peace every moment.
Walk and touch happiness every moment.
Each step brings a fresh breeze.
Each step makes a flower bloom under our feet.
Kiss the Earth with your feet.
Print on earth your love and happiness.
Earth will be safe when we feel safe in ourselves.
Read the words as you listen… Then do yourself a favor and go outside… Savor some peaceful moments as you mindfully walk on our “mother.”