It’s so basic that we forget how important it is. It requires no preparation, little effort, no equipment, and you can do it for as long or little as you have time. Take a walk. You may be surprised by what you find. 

Walking is a perennial spiritual practice that has never gone out of style. When we walk with intention we cultivate a state of wandering, that can help us generate new ideas and boost creativity. When we walk in nature, we switch from voluntary attention, which draws on our reserves of focus and energy, to involuntary attention, which requires less focus and energy. This allows us to recover from mental fatigue. Spiritually, walking can restore our soul, develop connection with the natural world, promote general health and healing, and raises our awareness and attention.

This summer take 1-minute to walk in a new way. When you are out on a trail or walking through your neighborhood, pause and recommit to walk with greater awareness. Notice what you experience.

1. Pause by the side of a trail or path. Take a few deep breaths and release any expectations of what your experience will be.
2. Take one hand and place it over your heart and breath inward. 
3. Take your other hand and place it over your navel and breath downward through your inner channel.
4. Then, with eyes open or closed, expand your awareness around you (which just means pay attention to the landscape that surrounds your body). 
5. Then take a few steps forward while focusing on the rhythm of your gait and moving forward with intention. Continue to hold an expanded awareness.
6. Notice using your 2nd senses of seeing beyond what your eyes see, feeling beyond what your body feels, hearing beyond what your ears hear, and knowing beyond what your mind knows what you are aware of in that moment.
7. What emerges around you? What emerges within you? What sensations do you experience? What thoughts pop in?

Take time to wander this summer. As you do so, you make space for creativity, new ideas and fresh vision to find you. May your simple summer stroll be a generative gift!

With love,

Annie