Hello,
And welcome to Methods,
An exploration in guided prayer and meditation.
My name is Jonathan Stalls,
And I'm an artist,
Creative,
Social entrepreneur,
Spiritual being moving on this planet,
And I have dedicated much of my life to walking invitation,
Moving invitation at an unhurried pace,
One,
Two,
Three miles an hour,
Whether by foot or by wheelchair,
Through towns,
Cities,
Rural landscapes,
Mountains,
Beaches,
Deserts.
So as you listen in,
You're going to hear,
You're going to hear sounds of the public realm.
You're going to hear traffic,
You're going to hear people talking,
You're probably going to hear music.
We're probably going to get a couple lawnmowers,
And my breathing might be a little off and on.
You're going to hear the breeze and the wind,
The microphone,
Like right now.
So the,
My love affair,
Literally,
With this form of meditation and invitation,
Being that of walking specifically,
Or moving at an unhurried pace,
Is deep and wide.
My love for it is deep and wide.
The essence of being in proximity,
In moving proximity to the natural world,
To your surroundings,
Moving proximity to what bubbles and rumbles on the inside of our bodies and our minds and our hearts.
The shoulder to shoulder,
Alongside approach to connecting with people we love or people we are potentially in conflict with or trying to understand.
So the intimacy of walking,
The inherent and intrinsic nature of walking,
Is so important to me,
And inside of meditation and contemplative practice.
So I invite you,
I'm doing this specifically in my home neighborhood outside of Denver,
Colorado,
North Park Hill.
So it's a residential area,
Some sidewalks,
Some not,
Crossing some busy streets and neighborhood streets.
But you can take this with you in an urban setting,
You can take this with you in a quieter field or on a trail.
The purpose,
The intention is that it's wherever you are.
It's practical,
It's right outside the front door.
That it's not just starting on a trailhead or starting at a quieter park,
While in certain ways that might be easier to move from the mind into the heart into the body to calm the practical nature of just going right outside your front door,
Wherever that is,
Is what makes this accessible and more attentive as an actual practice that you can build in for 10 minutes,
20 minutes,
An hour,
And longer.
So to begin,
Just what I would do is as soon as you're outside under our true ceiling,
Just find a spot under a tree,
Near a tree,
Or just wherever you are.
And just start with a couple really deep breaths.
All the way in,
All the way out.
Hi there,
Good morning.
It's a beautiful dog.
It's a good shade break,
Huh?
So breathing all the way in,
Feeling your feet against the ground,
Feeling the breeze against your skin,
Feeling the sun,
If it's out,
Greeting and warming your skin.
Just open your attention to the senses.
And when you're feeling ready,
Slowly begin to move,
To walk in whatever direction is calling.
Just be extra mindful of being unhurried,
Patient.
Just notice your steps,
The way your feet roll on the ground.
Just be mindful of the noises and the things that surround you.
You're just slowly moving,
Not in a hurry.
Notice the swinging of your arms.
Notice your breathing.
Notice trees,
Flowers,
Plants,
How they mirror wisdom,
How they mirror beauty and growth depending on the season you're in.
Rest and winter,
Color,
Vibrant,
Radical color and fall,
Life and risk and courage and joy in the summer,
New beginnings,
Blossoms,
Birth and the spring.
Be patient and caring and nurturing with what rumbles,
With what moves on the inside,
Thoughts,
Emotions,
Tasks.
Try not to hold on to them.
Try not to fix them.
Try not to solve them right now.
Just acknowledge them.
Consider stopping at different spots of shade or stop to touch a tree.
Stop to look up at the canopy of a tree as it reaches into the sky.
Stop to notice the details,
The details of a pine cone,
The details of flowers,
The details of even your own body moving on the earth as it's made to.
Just notice other people if they're around,
A good eye contact.
I am you.
You are me.
That's somewhere in our complexity and our story.
We're together,
We're unified.
As you walk,
Honor,
Honor the sky,
The bigness of our sky,
The mystery behind the sky,
The mystery of the stars,
The mystery of what really goes on inside of each of us,
Our fragility in these bodies as we move,
As we breathe.
So as you imagine closing your walk,
As you imagine closing your meditation,
As you imagine closing your meditation,
Find a spot under a tree nearby.
Find a spot that calms you,
That doesn't feel chaotic.
Just take one or two more deep breaths all the way in,
All the way out.
Let the sounds and the things and the thoughts and whatever's next,
That they are what they are.
If it's comfortable for you,
Consider kneeling to the ground in gratitude,
Touching the earth,
Touching the soil,
Touching the roots of trees,
Honoring ground,
Honoring your body,
Honoring your relationship to the planet,
To all that is divine within you,
To all that is divine in creation.
Peace,
Peace fellow beings on this planet.
Thank you for participating in this episode of Methods.
For more content visit www.
Methodspodcast.
Com or on social media at Methods Podcast.
Feel free to connect and follow my creative work at Intrinsic Paths.
You can stay connected to future walking invitations,
Different settings of engaged contemplation.
You can find me at IntrinsicPaths.
Com,
I-N-T-R-I-N-S-I-C-P-A-T-H-S dot com.
You can also find Intrinsic Paths on Patreon,
On social media at Intrinsic Paths.
Peace.
Until next time.
