Walking Meditation

One of the exercises that Athena and I did on our vacation was walking meditation.  I had never done this before, and I feel like I got a lot out of it.  Basically, we walked slowly through the garden and back yard; placing our feet slowly (a la Tai Chi, maintaining our balance while slowly lifting and placing the feet, by conciously shifting weight to the supporting foot).  The objective was to be totally aware of the experience of walking: savoring the sensations of different types of surfaces, aware of our bodies and how they moved, and being conciously grounded and aware of how the earth supports us.

I found that focusing on being grounded and connected to the earth while I walked disoriented me, and made me loose balance :)  So instead, I focused on my balance and how the earth supported me at all times.  This was very steadying.

While I was walking, I deliberately chose different surfaces (concrete, flagstone, gravel, dirt, grass, gravel, etc).  I tried to feel every nuance, and not to avoid or reject uncomfortable (even slightly painful) sensations.  As I did this, trying to accept and learn from everything that the earth had to offer, I got a strange feeling: that the sensations I felt as I walked were the voice of the earth, speaking to the soles of my feet.  Not in words, but it was like the changing interplay of hard/soft/sharp/round was like listening to the voice of a loving parent, when you can't understand the words but can only follow the music of their voice.  And I thought, "How toneless and dull this voice would sound, if there were no highs and lows!  If there were no sharp consonants to punctuate the rolling vowels, it would not be half so lovely to hear.  I am so happy to feel the rich, varied voice of the earth!"