Short on time? Find pause and presence with a walking meditation!

When was the last time you walked somewhere without a clear destination? Usually when I walk anywhere, I am already thinking of where I am going and my mind is racing a million miles a minute preparing, anticipating, and planning for whatever comes next.

Rather by accident, I stumbled on a generative morning contemplative practice when I was working an oncology nurse in Portland , Oregon -- walking. Nothing new, this practice is as old as time itself. But the refreshment I had during my day in the clinical environment was new to me. I would arise five minutes early than necessary, and once I was already to go, in my green scrubs, and death-trap Danskos, I would simply walk around my block. It likely helped that half of my walk was down a blackberry, raspberry, and golden raspberry alley. I felt the gravel under my shoes, got to know the names or (or named) my neighboring cats, and enjoyed the full sensory explosion of picking a few fresh berries and enjoying their toothsome and messy juices.

As I would describe it to an MD colleague later, I needed to do this so I remembered another world existed outside of the crushing pace and absorption of the clinical environment. And I found I needed this reminder frequently.

Today we offer a practice of remembering the other side of creation, of the other world (the same world) that co-exists with us as we dash around.

Contemplative Walk

The task today is take a walk with no destination in mind, a wandering walk. I learned first of this idea in Christine Valters Painter's The Souls Slow Ripening, and much of what follows is inspired by her thought. She introduced me to the ancient Celtic Spiritual practice called pereginato, best understood in today's context as a holy wandering or a pilgrimage with an unspecified destination. The wandering is an invitation to let go of our own agendas and discover where God, creation , or inner wisdom is leading. The invitation today is to walk with open eyes and an open heart in expectation of patterns and synchronicities that may reveal themselves to you in nature. We will find that when we pay attention, we may find a thread of things that stand out to us, and our task is to follow that thread.

"The way is made by walking" - Antonio Machado

1. Set aside ten minutes or more and take a walk, preferably outdoors, with no destination. Bring your phone as a camera, but do set it to airplane mode to avoid distractions.
2. Take the first few minutes to walk to ground. Feel the ground, your body, your breath, and ground in your surroundings.
3. Pay attention to images that call out to your attention- perhaps a color of a flower, a shape of a rock. Pause and give yourself over to this object for a few moments. Let your camera be a window into deeper seeing. If you notice yourself grasping at images, put the camera away and practice just holding a soft, and loving gaze. Take as many images on your camera as you would like as you walk.
4. When you return home, look through your images and let three or four draw you to a deeper attention.
5. Begin by writing from the voice of the images, using "I am" to speak from the voice of colors, symbols, objects, shapes, and so forth as a way of entering into this perspective of the word. What is each image saying to you?
6. Look for the thread. Shift your attention to any connection between images. As you look at them, what story do your photos want to tell? Take a few minute to write and down and reflect.

I'll be honest, even though I am suggesting this short practice, I never do it, unless I have abundant time and space set aside. I find it takes me a while to get into a frame of the absurdity of the idea of taking a walk with no destination. So the truth is, I have only ever done this while on a day retreat! And I invite you to do the same. I admire you if you have the self-discipline to do this on your own, but if you are like me, come away with us for the day of October 15 to have the opportunity to wander for the sake of love! We will have offerings like this to choose from in addition to times of community, and learning!

With gratitude,

Laura &?Anu