Morning River Walk #0: What is a ‘practice’?

For the last six months I have taken up the practice of early morning walks. Whether coincidentally or serendipitously, I’ve also been reflecting on the notion of ‘practice’.

For example, what makes the difference between going on a walk and walking as a practice?

The former I often do at weekends, with my beautiful partner, to stay fit, to connect and have quality time together. I relish every moment with her.?

The latter I do on my own with a different type of intention, attention and discipline. Of course, part of my intent is to stay healthy by aiming for a specific time, number of steps and average heart rate. But a larger part is to have some space and time to think and reflect, to slow down (psychologically), to tune into nature’s rhythms and beauty, and to set myself up for the day.

I try to attend to every step and focus on every breath – sometimes using a Wim Hof breathing exercise to flood my body with oxygen as I walk.

I also listen to podcasts, letting their words wash over me, which I find unleashes a flood of creative thoughts and ideas. I also try to conscientiously capture them and send them to myself so I can review them later in the day.

What these morning walks have really reminded me of is how important daily practice is ie. time to tune into my-self, to explore my edges, and to build new muscles – physical, mental, emotional...

So, what makes the difference? What makes it a ‘practice’? Three words come to mind.

Intention – Preparing well, creating and protecting time and space to practice, and holding true to the intention of the practice ie. what I’m trying to develop or grow or experiment with.

Attention – Staying focused and present, in the moment, and in my body – so it becomes an embodied practice and not just an academic or intellectual one.

Discipline – Having the discipline to follow the steps and sequences of a specific practice, and ensuring I am learning by doing – repetition, reflection, refinement, resilience.

Having practiced martial arts when I was young, and meditation and yoga as an adult, and having co-founded a company 27 years ago dedicated to developing a (catalytic) practice that can be practiced every day in organisations by leaders and teams, it is delightful to be re-discovering the simple practice of walking.

It is helping me replenish my energy. And, it has become a wellspring of creativity.

So, the challenge I have set myself is to capture and share what emerges on my walks.

Welcome to the first post in a new series I’ve entitled ‘Morning River Walks’.

About Nick

Dr Nick Udall is a co-founder and the CEO of nowhere, a core catalyst, a keynote speaker, author, and former Chair of the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on New Models of Leadership.

About nowhere

nowhere is a small, specialist company who have spent the last twenty-five years working behind the scenes and at the highest level with large, complex, legacy corporations, and cabinet governments, catalysing breakthroughs and building peak-performing cultures of innovation – cultures that operate at a higher order of productivity, creativity, energy, innovation and performance.

nowhere works mostly with industries that are in transformation – food security, the energy transition, big pharma, big tech, financial and capital flows, sustainability, peace keeping and defence – where fundamental mindset shifts, new organising forms and next generation leadership are increasingly needed.

www.now-here.com