Mindfulness walks are noticing walks. A noticing of what is happening right around us; an awakening to what is alive within us. What are your favourite outdoorsy smells? Fresh cut grass, maybe? Or rotting leaves and soft autumn earth? Imagine the moment when you step out of a dense forest and into a meadow. Can you recall a time when you were rambling along a trail and found yourself tangled in a spider’s web? What happens in you when you pause, become still, and allow a companioned silence to speak about You to You? The noticing of it all is The Thing.
So is a regular ol’ walk a mindfulness walk?
I (Sandra) am no athlete. I have butterfingers and seem to recall most of the sporting experiences of junior high and high school involving some special kinds of humiliation. Like, what even is Dodgeball?
But I do love a really good tromp. Walking demands little by way of coordination or concentration, and very rarely does something slip from your fingers or smash you in the face smelling like 100 year old rubber.
Mindfulness walks are not a tromp. They are less about exercise and more about Wonder.
Michelle is the master of this spiritual practice around here. If you ever happen to listen in on us sharing the path you’d like hear something like,
S: Michelle, can we just speed up a little bit? I need to get my steps in!
M: Oh, yeah! For sure, but just c’mere and look at this caterpillar first…
Three caterpillars, a crooked tree branch, a glint of light on a tree 3 kilometers away, and a chikadee song later…
S: Michelle? Michelle? Michelle, we’ve gotta’ go!
Walking contemplatively is the spiritual practice of Being With your Self and nature and time in a way that is gentle. Patient. Deeply attentive. A lot like Michelle. Not like me at all!
Ok, so why would I want to walk slowly and look at caterpillars?
One of our mentors once began a gathering by asking, “When is the last time someone invited you into silence?”
When we’re settling into any kind of session we begin with a brief silence. An invitation to pause-stop. A turning inward of intention and attention. And a savouring, slow exploration of what arises in us when we just.slow.down.
To do this in a listening chair can feel complicated — even fraught. Sometimes it’s easier (more compassionate?) on our stressed self to stay in motion. A mindfulness walk is a bridge between stillness and the gotta’-get-‘er-done of our daily life.
In a guided way, a walk like this will give you opportunity to notice where you already feel free, safe, known. It will help you attend to parts of you that feel stuck, frightened, confused, angry. This is done by offering a gentle pace, beautiful paths, and careful interjections of wondering. We will ask questions that assist you in hearing your Self, God, The Universe.
You may begin a walk feeling overwhelmed, stressed, or stuck.
By the time a noticing trek comes to a close, you might notice that you are breathing deeply, feeling calm, and experiencing clarity about things you have been struggling with for a long while.
Springtime in Alberta
As we roll into a prairie/foothills Spring we are excited to be up and wandering again! As soon as the paths clear of ice in spring we will be connecting for weekly mindfulness walks. We will start out from a mountain view in Cochrane, Alberta, and plan to spend an hour together in this way.
If this is a curiosity for you, you can connect with us any time at still.lake.listening@gmail.com, by phone (403.613.5241), or on our socials. Listening care is for all. You are welcome here.