Walking is integral to my life. I like exploring the city on foot and walking on unknown roads rediscovering the city I call my home. Spring is the perfect time to prance about in delight because it’s not too hot and not too cold, the perfect time to be out and about with a book in tow. Now the roads are unusually empty because the schools are yet to reopen. I cherish the peace and quiet of these mornings more than words could convey. Nothing makes me happier than walking about the neighbourhood during twilight, exchanging nods with familiar faces, running errands or just walking to the park to sit and read, if I am too tired to walk.
When I read about walking meditation for the first time I thought what is he on about. Then I read it again after my torn ligament, whose recovery was complex as anyone with a torn ligament would attest to. It left me frustrated at being unable to move at the pace I’m used to and that is when walking meditation came to my rescue. Thich Nhat Hanh’s book not only helped me see things in a different light but allowed me to finally accept things as they are. I would have wanted to throw the book across the room if I had read it when I was recuperating at home impatiently waiting to rejoin the world as I left it, but things change, and we have to change with them. As they say timing is everything.
I’m comfortable with my limits now, if not made my peace with it. I’m not able to walk as much as I want but I still love walking everywhere. I know it takes a certain amount of time to get in the zone so I’m more mindful of my steps, walking slowly, taking it all in, and The Long Road Turns to Joy guides me to make the most of my steps.
I didn’t get the point of the book earlier but longing for things which are beyond my control got me nowhere. It took me a while but I stopped feeling sorry for myself, and started getting up early again, to go out in the mornings. The number of rounds and the distance started to matter less and less when I chose to focus on how I felt. It doesn’t matter if I can walk. I go and sit at the park with my book or journal, instead of sleeping in. Reading under open skies, flowers in full regalia, sitting under a tree with the birds chirping, to say nothing of the squirrels jumping from branches, is an experience in itself. My morning walks not only give me fresh air but grant me the gift of stillness before the day roars on, which is priceless. And to think, all my life I thought I wasn’t a morning person. Turns out all it took was a shift in perspective, and a little help in the form of a good cuppa to get moving 🙂
eternal oxymoron 