This is an invitation to slow down as you walk.
It's an invitation to walk in mindfulness.
Often I find myself rushing from one place to another without even questioning for the reason of rushing.
It just seems to be a habit.
I just rush around and in that rushing I miss 99% of what's around me.
I see myself trying to get somewhere as fast as possible.
When I walk to the supermarket or to work or wherever I'm going to,
I become so goal oriented that I don't really enjoy the walk.
I'm not even aware of the experience of actually walking.
When I finally get to my destination,
I hardly have any recollection of how I really got there.
I went on autopilot for most of the way.
So it often surprises me as I walk on the high street,
For example,
And I notice something that I'm sure was not there before,
But that in fact it may have been there for several centuries.
It could be a particular column of an old building or a beautifully decorated window on the second floor of another building.
It could be even the cobbled path that I'm walking on.
It's only when I decide to slow down that I begin to notice these things,
That these things come to life in my mind.
My mind is no local focused on the goal of arriving somewhere.
It is focused on the act of walking itself,
Just being present with my surroundings as I walk.
In this way now I begin to notice the colours,
The shapes,
Sounds and even smells of what's around me,
And the experience of walking on the high street begins to feel very different and more enjoyable.
As I slow down,
Everything else slows down too.
So every now and again,
As I walk on the high street,
I decide to slow down,
I decide to reconnect with my body,
With my breath,
I walk in mindfulness.
I can ask myself,
Do I really need to rush in this moment?
Maybe I don't need to.
And this is very helpful,
Because it gives me the opportunity to walk with more inner peace,
With ease and joy,
And experience the walking,
Even if it's just five or ten minutes.
In order to make this kind of walking in mindfulness a practice,
I need to decide to practice walking in mindfulness in a particular section of the high street,
Or on my way to work,
Or especially when I'm coming back home.
So as I walk I can begin to drop all the stress,
The anxiety or tiredness accumulated during the day,
So I don't arrive tired or irritated.
This is one method of practice,
And like any other method,
Sometimes it works better than others.
The important thing is to explore this with an open mind and with a spirit of exploration,
And to give it a regularity.
Then once you do this on a regular basis,
You will begin to see when you are not walking in mindfulness.
You'll catch yourself being in a rush,
Or running from one place to another,
When there's no real need to do so.
You just do it out of the habit of rushing.
By walking more slowly and with more awareness,
Everything in your life can also begin to slow down,
And gain a richer,
More profound experience of being alive.
So every step counts,
Every breath counts,
You arrive on every step,
You arrive with every breath.
