Have you ever been stumped about an idea or a project you are working on and gone for a walk out in nature? Maybe you let your eyes cast out on the fields, or whatever was in front of you, and in that moment your problem was solved.
Have you gone walking with a friend or family member in nature and been able to speak of some of the deepest areas of your life you are working on?
Walking is Our Natural Inheritance
Every morning we get out of bed, put our feet on the ground, get in the upright position and begin walking. You might walk to work, walk while taking care of your children, or to get to some other activity. You might walk with a fast pace, or a slow pace. But you walk! You walk upright, and you move your body with the ability to stand in gravity in a upward way. Walking is a truly human experience and something we often take for granted.
The significance of walking and being upright by its very essence enables vision and moving forward toward our goal. Walking in a way can begin to create our desires and deep wishes. As we move through this natural inheritance, we will find more of who we are.
In the Feldenkrais Method®, our Awareness Through Movement® lessons guide people in how they are walking. How would you like to walk? How do your feet strike the earth? Do you push off more with your right foot or your left? Which leg carries more of your weight? Hopefully, you will develop the ability to feel lighter and soft on your feet. As you bring awareness to different parts of your body, you will tap into this natural inheritance of the upright position and the amazing human experience of your walk.
Walking Can Be Used to Find Center
This walking practice is called a pilgrimage. Although walking brings us closer to our natural inheritance, it can also be used as a meditative tool. Throughout history, human beings have set out on pilgrimages to walk to a place that is sacred, to their own center, or their place of origin.
That quest to find Center, or to find Origins, is alive in most of us. The pilgrimage uses walking to enliven the inner path. This practice of pilgrimage is returning around the world. There are many spiritual paths that lead in this direction, to the center.
Walking With Intention, You Use Your Body as a Tool
For Following Your Inner Path
Traditionally, there are four seasons throughout the year which are recognized and celebrated. I add a fifth walk called Epiphany which brings meaning to the New Year. People from all over the world have been drawn to the changing of the seasons, and the corresponding changes in themselves. The days of most significance are the Vernal Equinox, the Summer Solstice, the Autumnal Equinox, and the Winter Solstice. During these times, Sunrise has been of great importance to mark time, the seasons of planting and harvesting, festivities and sacred celebrations. The cycle repeats each year, making a complete circle.
Walking the Sunrise Walk
At Sunrise, as we place our feet on the earth, stand up, and begin to walk our path, I hope you will feel connected to your own pilgrimage with each step, and that the cycle of the seasons creates a complete circle for you. What I love about taking an early morning walk at Sunrise during these cycles of the year is it keeps me remembering and in touch with my cosmology – the universe I live in. We live in vast universe that holds our solar system and the Milky Way. To walk in our upright posture, on a path, is a part of our human existence and taps into resources far greater than ourselves. Remember that many have walked before us and many more will follow. Although you are not walking on a labyrinth or to the center of a long pilgrimage, you are walking to a place inside of you. Walking itself is part of the path. Enjoy.
