Moving Meditation Exploration

Day 1:

First meditative walk with Lucy after work. Of course, It's dark outside now, so I walk with a head lamp on and LED flashlight (and probably look really dumb). We walked for 45 minutes tonight, which is long for us on a weeknight. And during that time, I was seriously attempting to focus on my steps or my breath. But, it was really difficult! I couldn't get into a rhythm. I was walking too quickly to count steps and have it feel like a calming experience. And when I counted or listened to my breathing, I got out of breath. I can't 'watch' my breath, if I focus on it, then I begin to control it. Not a good combination.


When I got home, I got out my yoga mat to do some stretching, and there's where the beginning glimpse of serenity showed up. I felt like I could clear my head more, and breathe into the stretches in complete silence. I was very aware of the oven preheating for my spinach pie, and the house heating system buzzing, and every so often the jarring bark of Lucy in her watch dog role (even though she's barking at the neighbors). It was the most quiet my mind was able to achieve since leaving the house at 6:15 pm for our walk.

And now, my eye lids are sleepy and I'm going to bed...

Lazy Crazy Lucy Lu

Here's a recent pic of your fuzzy west coast neice! This is her new favoriate blanket, fuzzy green and yellow. 

Karen and I went walking on the Grahm Trail at Redwood with Lucy and Stella and she had a ball. I love seeing her so happy. It makes me feel like all is right in the world. I think walking with Lucy is my form of meditation, a walking meditation, if you will. I often find myself counting steps (yes, it's a little wierd) or listening to my huffing and puffing as a focus point. 

Maybe my part of the 28 day challenge could be to make 10 minutes of a walk with Lucy a conscious meditation. Or another challenge for me would be to actually attend a yoga class soon, something I've wanted to get back into and can't seem to get myself there. Who knows why.

Challenge: I will try to do a form of moving meditation 3x week, either with Lucy or at a yoga class for 2 weeks. I think I can commit to that, start small and work my way upwards. I'll start on Monday January 11, 2010. 

Zen Ali & Buddha Lucy