The Wonder of Walking
(wild chamomile near my home I foraged for my nighttime tea)
When I go for my walks, I often look down in front of me. I'm a little insecure in the way. Trying not to make eye contact with the drivers zooming by. Questioning my form. Do I look like I know what I'm doing? Are my hips aligned with my shoulders? Carefully placing each foot down to make sure I don't step on living insects or anything else. Seems counter intuitive right? Instead of clearing my mind like I intended, I end up hyper-focused on each step instead of regulating my breathing or focusing on arriving to my destination.
The moment I realized what I was doing I dramatically shifted: I looked up and out. Hmmm? Who would've though something so simple would be so enlightening.
Suddenly I noticed my posture shift, then my breathing, then my pacing, and then how I felt about the journey itself. The distance I had to go was no longer heavy on my mind or physically exhaustive. I began focusing on the purpose of the walk.
This lead me to an assessment: When we are micromanaging ourselves or hyper focused on every detail of the simplest tasks---every sale, like or follow, calorie, breath our partner takes---we lose out breathing technique, our posturing or composure, our focus on the overall goal. Shift your focus.
Take your eyes off the ground beneath your feet and put them on the focal point in the distance.
In drawing classes before learning about shading or highlighting techniques, one of the first things you learn about is perspective and identifying your focal point. To help you create the most realistic interpretation, first you must identify WHAT you what the viewer to look at. And how far, close, deep, wide, or tall it is. That generates perspective and takes the viewers eye from 2-D into 3-D. When you haven't identified your focal point, and make the detailing or surrounding objects more important, the scale of the objects included in the picture can be skewed or warped because they won't make sense in accordance to the focal point.
When you are on your journey and you haven't identified your focal point, every detail of your life will be skewed, out of focus, warped because your perspective is off. Shift your eyes up to the overall goal you are trying to achieve. Steady your breathing and adjust your posturing. Your feet won't fail you when you have confirmed where they are going.
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If you like to have a bit of company while you walk, I recommend a wonderful podcast by Alex Elle & Libby DeLana titled This Morning Walk which is full of prompt-filled dialogue that aids in mindfulness and focusing on your thoughts during your walk.
We have also curated a playlist of feel good tunes that are sure to boost your mood.