The Donut — Walking Meditation

I recently went back to practicing mindfulness. Easy. Not so much.

In the first event I attended after many many years, we practiced walking meditation. And hey, it was fun. I had a hard time not cracking up. Everyone had a very peculiar gait. I could not focus on mine. So I tried to figure out what was going on. Why people that walk everyday without thinking, as soon as they are invited to walk with attention and intention they do very weird moves.

One had a large stomach and thin legs, like some illustrations from taverns in the distant past. He would lift one leg in a swift movement, balance the body, and then cautiously put his foot, clad in a soft frunped sock, back on the floor. He’d balance again a little and then swiftly lift the other foot and so on. Meanwhile his head would sort of dangle as if disconnected from the rest.

A woman, of the kind I used to envy because they are slim and tall and look great in designer clothes, would shuffle her feet — sort of like people with Alzheimer, or some peculiar type of dementia or some neurological issue. She’d then shift her weight by partially rotating her hips, balance her very long arms, and then lift one foot as if it was a snake climbing up her other leg. She’d lift it up way further than one needs to, to simply walk.

So I kept observing and besides having my crack up moments, I mindfully guided myself to my inside, interoception, have you heard this word before? The faculty we have to feel our body and presence as a whole in a specific environment. I stand on my two feet, I feel my legs’ muscles do some effort to keep me straight and even my abs and back muscles have to exert a minor effort. As soon as we move, different muscles are activated than those that keep us standing. Or the same ones but in a different way.

My attention kept shifting, inside, feeling the muscles, the balance, the temperature of the floor, the cold air from the window on my skin… and outside, are other people watching me and finding my gait as hilarious as I find theirs? We went on with this exercize for quite a while. Probably half an hour. Then, we sat. In silence. Feeling all exerted muscles, including the attention ones, those that guide attention.

The facilitator started talking again and my poetic moment came to an end.