{"id":330,"date":"2010-11-26T20:40:00","date_gmt":"2010-11-26T20:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2010\/11\/spiritual-practice-techniques-walking\/"},"modified":"2013-02-03T12:31:53","modified_gmt":"2013-02-03T18:31:53","slug":"spiritual-practice-techniques-walking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2010\/11\/spiritual-practice-techniques-walking.html","title":{"rendered":"Spiritual Practice Techniques: Walking"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
This is the fifth in an occasional series on spiritual practice techniques<\/a>.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
One of the primary purposes of spiritual practice is to develop balance and wholeness. Your body needs this practice every bit as much as your mind. Any form of exercise can be a spiritual practice, and some physical exercises are explicitly spiritual, such as yoga and Qigong<\/a>.<\/div>\n
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But for me, the simplest exercise is the best \u2013 walking. The health benefits are large and well-known<\/a>, and as Pagans who see the body as part of the whole person and not as something to be transcended, anything that makes us physically healthier improves our overall spiritual health.<\/div>\n
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Like so many of us, I spend most of my time indoors. There are weeks when it seems like the only time I\u2019m outside is when I\u2019m going from the car to work and back again. Walking gets me outside and lets me breathe fresh, unconditioned air. I can see and feel the seasons: the heat of Summer, the cold of Winter, the flowering of Spring, and the coloring of Fall.<\/div>\n
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I do most of my exercising in the early mornings, before work. Much of that is walking, and since I\u2019m outside at about the same time every day, it\u2019s easy to follow the progression of the Sun through the year and the progression of the Moon through the month<\/a>.<\/div>\n
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Leave the iPod at home. Part of that is a safety issue \u2013 you need to be able to hear on-coming runners, bicycles and cars. But you also need to be able to hear birds and crickets, squirrels and rabbits.<\/div>\n
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There are times when I need to listen to the natural world, and there are times when I need to sort through things. I do my best thinking, writing, and problem solving while walking. Even when I\u2019m indoors and don\u2019t have time for a \u201creal\u201d walk, if I\u2019m working on a difficult problem I find myself getting up and walking, even if it\u2019s just pacing back and forth across the room.<\/div>\n
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There are treadmills at the fitness center where I work, and I\u2019ll use them if the weather is just too inhospitable to go outside. The physical benefits are still there, but I don\u2019t get anywhere near the spiritual benefits as I do from an outdoors walk. I have to admit I\u2019ve gotten a bit wimpy here \u2013 back when I was running the only thing that kept me indoors was lightning. There\u2019s a Swedish saying that \u201cthere is no bad weather, only bad clothes.\u201d It\u2019s true.<\/div>\n

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Walking in a forest or a park is nice, but even a walk around the block can be inspiring. Life is everywhere: ornamental trees, grass pushing up through cracks in the sidewalk, insects on the ground and in the air \u2013 even the most desolate city can speak to you, if you\u2019ll open your eyes and ears.<\/div>\n

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If you\u2019ve ever engaged in regular physical exercise this probably sounds familiar. If you haven\u2019t, give it a try. You don\u2019t need any special equipment (aside from a good pair of shoes) or any special training. Just go outside and go for a walk \u2013 and let Nature speak to you.<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is the fifth in an occasional series on spiritual practice techniques. One of the primary purposes of spiritual practice is to develop balance and wholeness. Your body needs this practice every bit as much as your mind. Any form of exercise can be a spiritual practice, and some physical exercises are explicitly spiritual, such […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1129,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-practice"],"yoast_head":"\nSpiritual Practice Techniques: Walking<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This is the fifth in an occasional series on spiritual practice techniques. 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