One Day at a time, a daily reflection

by surprisedbyjoy@yahoo.com

December 3

"It is solved by walking." St. Augustine

"…they will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40:31c

Walking is good for our souls. Many walk for love and wisdom. A local hospice program owns a large portable labyrinth and calls their ministry, "walking the trail of wisdom." Through facilitating a number of my own labyrinth walks and retreats, I have learned walking helps us break old patterns of thinking, doing and being. Walking helps us honor body and spirit. Everything instructs-as we slow down and see, listen, taste, feel, pause and grow.

Walking helps release hurtful and negative feelings. Walking is known as the perfect total-body exercise. Here are four great reasons to walk: it brightens your mood; it strengthens your body; it energizes your mind; and it burns calories. Oprah Winfrey has often said, "I’ve been through every diet under the sun, and I can tell you that getting up, getting out, and walking is always the first goal."

Age-old wisdom reveals active aging people maintain the vigor and strength of someone 10-15 years younger. I looked at a walking journal the other day, and it specifically mentioned that we use more of our body’s 650 muscles and 208 bones when we walk, than when we run. Walking also helps prevent osteoporosis (age-related bone loss).

Step by step, we can breathe peace with every step. By breathing a little slower and deeper; we enjoy placing one step in front of the other. People walk for all kinds of reasons. We walk for peace, justice, unity-civil rights marches and special interest groups. We walk and talk, walk the talk, walk and meditate. We walk for our physical health, so why not walk for our spiritual health?

The venerable Thich Nhat Hanh reminds us that "everything depends on our steps. We struggle in our mind and body, and don’t touch the peace and joy that are available right now—the blue sky, the green leaves, the eyes of our beloved." He calls us to be deeply mindful and in touch with the present moment. Our understanding of what is going on will deepen, and we can begin to be filled with acceptance, joy, peace and love.

Thich Nhat Hanh encourages everyone to begin to practice walking meditation. Because it might be new, we may feel unbalanced like a baby learning to walk. He says this: "Follow your breathing, dwell mindfully on your steps, and soon you will find your balance. Visualize a tiger walking slowly, and you will find that your steps become as majestic as his."

A very dear friend is a golf fan. When I mentioned the title of this reflection, she jokingly asked, "oh, do you mean walk like Tiger Woods as he triumphantly walks up to the eighteenth hole in a golf tournament?"

All I could say was, whatever "Tiger" comes to mind, just walk! Walk and find strength with God.

Prayer: God, help us find strength through walking. Amen.