100 Walks https://100walks.com We walk to heal Tue, 03 Sep 2019 15:02:52 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://100walks.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/flavicon-100x100.png 100 Walks https://100walks.com 32 32 Using Photography as a Tool for Mindful Walking https://100walks.com/using-photography-as-a-tool-for-mindful-walking/ https://100walks.com/using-photography-as-a-tool-for-mindful-walking/#respond Tue, 03 Sep 2019 15:02:52 +0000 http://www.100walks.com/?p=5585 I remember so clearly the moment I realized the simple act of taking a photo could change my life. I had just started taking walks and had spent so much time indoors over the years that nature itself felt foreign and new to me. The variety of plants, the beauty of birds, the feel of the sun warming my skin were astonishing. I was also sad and as it is when you are sad, those momentary feelings of awe disappeared swiftly like the sparks of a sparkler – a quick brightness and then back to darkness.

On this particular walk, my feelings were so full they were bubbling over. Grief, sadness, pain. It felt hard to exist with so much going on inside of me. It was all too much which is why I was walking in the first place. The air was hot, around me the sound of bugs and birds were constant. I looked down and a snail was slowly moving across the concrete path I stood upon. Something in me wanted to remember that moment so I pulled out my phone and took a picture.

snail

There was a magic in that action. Taking that picture extended the time where I was thinking not about how I felt but about the snail, about the curve of its shell, the effort of its journey and the beauty of its existence. This was the moment that I decided to start documenting my walks with photography and that decision made all the difference for me.

What is mindful walking?

Mindful walking is a practice where you bring your attention to the environment you are moving through. By working with your attention while walking you become more aware of your surrounds and you are able to connect to the present moment. It can be helpful when you are dealing with hard things or stressful situations.

Why photography is the perfect tool for mindfulness.

  • Photography creates opportunities for you to notice your immediate surroundings. When you are purposefully looking for items to photograph you spend more time seeing the world around you.
  • Taking a picture of something makes you look more deeply at it. You notice details like texture, color or the way the light falls upon it.
  • Photography can create a natural feeling of gratitude. Often we are photographing something that we find beautiful or unique. Taking a photograph can be a similar action to writing down something you are grateful for.
  • Photography makes you slow down. We move through the world quickly but taking photos gives you chances to pause and be in the moment.
  • Regular use of photography can create a more mindful approach to life. If you incorporate photography into your life on a regular basis approaching the world in a more conscious manner can become habitual. It is almost like you are training yourself to be in the moment.

How to use photography as a tool for mindful walking.

On your next walk notice when you are drawn to something. Stop and take a photograph. It is really this simple. You will sometimes find yourself resisting the urge to slow down but stop anyway. Anytime you see something that piques your interest simply take a picture of it.

It is often easiest just to use a phone camera vs carrying a special camera with you. This allows you to incorporate this practice any time you are walking vs taking planned walks. It also takes you out of the idea that the photo you take has to be beautiful. It does not. This is not about becoming an expert photographer, this is about witnessing the world around you.

Make this a regular practice. You will find that over time you are seeing more, feeling more deeply and creating a connection with the present moment.

Have you used photography as a tool for mindful walking? How has it changed your life?

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The Memory Of Trees https://100walks.com/the-memory-of-trees/ https://100walks.com/the-memory-of-trees/#respond Fri, 30 Aug 2019 01:05:28 +0000 http://www.100walks.com/?p=5800 Today on the way home from work I turned a corner in an office park and in a median where there once stood three beautiful trees now stood just the bottom 1/3rd of them, hacked and splintered, pushing out of the earth just enough to break. It seemed an unceremonius act this hatcheting.

As I continued to drive, trees that I have lost in the past came to mind. I hold so many lost trees in my heart. It made me wonder if others do that too. Do you?

Across the street from my parent’s house is a small home on a large lawn. When the new owner moved it they removed a huge beautiful tree that shaded the entire yard. It was a majestic tree, limbs stretched out all over the sky. Now the sky is stark and empty. The sun bears down making it feel almost desert like. Almost every time I pass it I remember that tree and I mourn the loss of its shade.

Where I work a beautiful tall pine fell over because we had had too much rain. It was my morning tree, the one I said hello to every day on the way into work. I miss that tree. I miss the way it made me feel optimistic. Its energy was joyful.

In a park that I love to walk in, they tore down an entire row of pines and large old trees. They left them lying on the ground for months and I would trail my hands across them in sorrow when I came to walk. I gave them my apology wondering if in that wood a spirit still lived. When I walk there I can still see it as it was – a little forest oasis where your skin brushed up against piney scents and leaf-filled air.

Trees feel like benevolent spirits to me, quiet friends willing to stand with you in any sort of weather. They fill the periphery of our lives, gentle giants casting shade upon weary wanderers. I recently had a thought that it is easy to have gratitude for a tree. It is easier than having a thought, tree lovers love without knowing and when the tree is gone they love the memory of it.

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Trust & Dragonflies https://100walks.com/trust-and-dragonflies/ https://100walks.com/trust-and-dragonflies/#comments Fri, 09 Aug 2019 20:12:20 +0000 http://www.100walks.com/?p=5785 People often ask me how I get dragonflies to sit on my finger. The answer is simple. I gain their trust.

When you sit long enough with dragonflies you begin to learn their rhythms. They are territorial and watchful but they are also surprisingly trusting. With dragonflies, there has to be an acknowledgment of their presence and a respect for their feelings.

To acknowledge a dragonfly you simply let it know that it has been seen. This can be done by following it as it moves, slowly trailing it as it flys from flower to plant to flower. This can also be done by lowering yourself to its level and waiting for its eyes to move or it’s head to tilt as it realizes you are witnessing its life.

When it does move its eyes or fan its wings, stop and stand completely still. Respect its trepidation. It will notice this.

Next bring your hand down to eye level with the dragonfly, being very careful to show respect just as before. If they hesitate, create stillness. Move gently towards them and offer your finger as a place for them to stand. If they have not flown away yet, trust is present. Move your finger close enough and they will walk onto it. Now let yourself be wildly happy for this moment.

I spent the other afternoon sitting next to a pond that had dozens of dragonflies swarming around it. I find it miraculous that something so tiny and so completely alien to us could trust us. The gap between human understanding and insect understanding is so large it almost feels insurmountable – until you are sitting next to a pond on a warm sunny day marveling at the glittering wings of the Great Blue Skimmer that has bestowed you with the gift of its presence.

This individual has trusted you. And with that comes a sense of dignity and a sense of responsibility. In what ways has the natural world placed its trust in you? How can we honor that trust? How can I thank the dragonfly for a heart now full with wonder and a world filled with wings?

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Walking When Life Becomes Too Much https://100walks.com/walking-when-life-becomes-too-much/ https://100walks.com/walking-when-life-becomes-too-much/#respond Sun, 23 Jun 2019 19:38:12 +0000 http://www.100walks.com/?p=24 It’s been a while since I have experienced something devastating. And now I am faced with a beloved pet’s illness that will soon lead to her death and I am back in the depths of grief, wondering why life has to be so hard.

And so I walk. I walk because right now life is too much for me. This is why I began walking, it is what led me to deepen my connection to nature, to explore, to surrender. But I had forgotten what it was like to walk in this state.

To walk when you are hurt is a different experience. It is not a joyful one. I forgot this. I forgot that you don’t notice as much and what you do notice doesn’t light you up.

When you are living with pain or fear, it is enough just to take one step forward. You do not need to believe anything is beautiful. You do not need to feel joy. When the world is just too much, you only need to exist.

If you are in the midst of one of these moments, walking may help, if only in the smallest way. A path will give you the means of moving forward. That is all it is there for on this day. And maybe on this walk or a walk in the future, you will come across the tiniest mushroom and it will make you smile or you will look out at the horizon and it will make your soul feel filled. But it’s okay if today nothing makes you smile.

Today, all that is needed is to walk. And I promise you, as I am promising myself at this moment, that one day, you will not be walking in pain. One day soon, your walk will be about the beauty of the sunlight shining through the trees, it will be about the sound of the insects buzzing and then quieting as you move closer, it will be about the squirrels and the birds and the beautiful world.

So step forward, even if it is in pain. I am here. I am doing the same.

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An Exercise In Noticing Movement https://100walks.com/an-exercise-in-noticing-movement/ https://100walks.com/an-exercise-in-noticing-movement/#respond Tue, 18 Jun 2019 21:21:02 +0000 http://www.100walks.com/?p=21 Today I went to the forest. I didn’t go deep. I stood on the outskirts. I was needing something – the strength of the trees, the playfulness of the squirrels, the gentle bending of the leaves.

I never know what it is I need when I go to the woods. But that is as it should be. The woods answer questions that I can not name and it heals things I do not even know are broken.

I stood still and in that stillness, the movement around me became amplified. And so I began to notice it. First the squirrel, sitting on the nub of a tree where a branch once grew, nut in hands, chewing happily. Next, more squirrels dotted here and there amongst the trees. Then the leaves, swaying up and down on the breeze. Birds flying from tree to tree. Bugs crawling up the bark of a tree.

If you are feeling tired or weary, go to the woods. Stand very still. Notice the movement around you.

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The Blackbirds & the Hawks https://100walks.com/the-blackbirds-the-hawks/ https://100walks.com/the-blackbirds-the-hawks/#respond Mon, 17 Jun 2019 13:29:24 +0000 http://www.100walks.com/?p=17 When I was driving to work the other day I saw 2 small birds, what looked to be blackbirds, dive-bombing a hawk. One of the two birds was especially aggressive, literally landing on the flying hawk again and again. A quick touchdown followed by a sprint into the air.

The hawk did nothing but fly away, swerving here and there to avoid the small birds attacks.

Come to find out that this behavior is called mobbing and is frequently exhibited when birds are protecting young ones or coming together to fend off predators.

My question is how do you come up with the courage little birds? Your tiny feet a smidge of a fraction of the size of the hawk’s talons. One swift move of the hawk and your life is gone. But you do it anyway. Somehow you’re courage grows, you find the strength and you chase off a larger, stronger, fiercer opponent.

And hawk, they say you don’t want to waste the energy to kill your attacker. Somehow I don’t believe that. It seems it would be easier to remove the threat then to swerve and dive and avoid the nuisance. I like to believe that you admire the little birds. You honor them by not fighting back.

Life respecting life.

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Things to do on a Windy day. https://100walks.com/things-to-do-on-a-windy-day/ https://100walks.com/things-to-do-on-a-windy-day/#comments Wed, 12 Jun 2019 15:32:37 +0000 http://www.100walks.com/?p=14 My favorite type of day is a windy one. The world comes alive on a windy day. The leaves in the treetops dance haphazardly. The birds play on tufts of air. Life seems mobile and uplifted. Everywhere are reminders to appreciate life.

One of the tenets of 100 Walks is the idea of cultivating awe. I want to invite you to join me in using the wind as a means of doing that. On a windy day find a quiet place to site preferably in nature and observe how the wind affects your environment.

A few ideas to help you experience:

  1. How are the treetops moving?
  2. How are animals and insects reacting to the wind?
  3. How does the wind feel as it touches you?
  4. Breath in deeply. You are breathing in the energy of the wind? How does that feel?
  5. Does the wind affect your mood? If so, how?
  6. What does it feel like to walk against the wind?
  7. What does it feel like to walk in the same direction as the wind?
  8. Can you speak to the wind?
  9. Does it speak to you?
  10. Close your eyes – how does your experience of the wind change?
  11. Thank the universe for the wind. Tell it why.

How do you feel now? Will you remember on the next windy day to pause a second longer and enjoy your experience?

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