Ah, the lyric “here comes the rain again” has come true on this fine day. As Mother Nature offers the gift of a rainy cleanse, I feel grateful to have experienced my outdoor adventures earlier today.
I felt inspired to take Stella to the nearby dog park. When we arrived, the park was completely empty and we had the whole area to ourselves. Once in the enclosed sand-filled play area, I let her off her leash to play, explore and sniff to her heart’s content. She took the liberty to practice her zoomies every so often as she explored. The cutie!
When she got all of her zoomies out, she came on back to where I was for a bit of a rest. As both of us were enjoying being outside, I felt an inspired idea to practice a brief meditative walk, also known as walking meditation.
A walking meditation is a way to help an individual narrow the focus of their thoughts and help them to be in the present moment by walking slower than their usual pace.
Using my senses to see as well as feel each step I took in the sand, I felt the connections of how each part of my body worked together as I simply took a step.
Deepening my breath, I focused on how every movement felt with my cycles of breath and beat of my heart.
Continuing my steps forward, I heard some neighborhood dogs barking in the distance and acknowledged them prior to shifting my focus back to my breath as I mindfully walked. Truly feeling my connection to the Earth by walking heel-to-toe.
As I turned to walk back to where I began, I noticed my breath synchronizing to the flow of my movement. With every mindful step I took, I felt the shift in my energy where a peaceful wave washed over me replacing all the internal chatter and list of to-dos.
Arriving back to meet Stella and concluding my mini journey, I noticed feeling even more relaxed than I had felt upon arriving at the park. Bringing my hands together to meet at my heart, I gave thanks for this moment that I hadn’t realized I needed and headed home with Stella.
Writing this now, the symphony of rain pitter-patters outside. I realize that it was such a gift to have acted upon the inspiration I received today! Going to the park as well as practicing this meditative walk which served as a needed cleanse!
I had developed a habit of fast walking back in high school and continued to practice this while I worked in the medical field. It felt so nice to practice this mindful movement- shifting the energy from the space of go-go-go into that of stillness and being present! I’m more than grateful to have been reminded of this way of connection!
Until next time, my friends, peace be with you.
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