Heartful Walking

By Mary McGill

Now that we’re in the holiday season, most of us are very busy and stressed from all of the expectations surrounding this time of year. Here are a few ways to rest your body, heart, and mind, and reconnect with your joy while taking your walks.

Your walks are a great time to rejuvenate and remember the Qualities within yourself that are much more enjoyable than stress, tension, and hurry. These are Qualities of the heart, like feelings of love and connection, inner peace, relaxation, and passion for life. These principles will support and inspire you. You can reconnect to the Qualities of your heart by using the following simple methods.

Before You Walk: Write Down Your Qualities
Take a few minutes and identify up to three Heartful Qualities that you really want in your life. Write them down on a small piece of paper. Bring them with you on your walk.

Scan your physical state.
• Is your breath shallow? Deep?
• Are you periodically holding your breath?
• Is your body tense or relaxed?
• Do you have energy? Fatigue?

Scan your mind.
• Is your glass half full or half empty?
• Is your mind racing? Calm?
• Are there any negative thoughts or beliefs running the show?
• Simply acknowledge what you are thinking.

Scan your emotions.
• Are you in touch with your intentions, with what you really desire?
• Are you looking forward to the holidays?
• Are you tense and worried or trusting and peaceful?
• Acknowledge how you are feeling.

During your walks, use the following stress busters to reconnect to your own heart and how you want to feel at this time of year.

Be Present to Your Breath
Stress can make you hold your breath or breathe shallowly. When this happens, your body may call up the fight, flight, or even freeze response, and this makes it difficult to be creative or handle the stress.
As you start to walk, start by looking around and enjoying the sites around you. Then, take a few minutes and be present to your breath. With this conscious awareness, your breath can return to its natural rhythm. This invites you to relax and helps you open to the more Heartful Qualities that inspire and feed your heart and your life.

Check in and be present to your breath periodically throughout your walk.

Bust Negative Thoughts and Beliefs
Next, scan your mind for any of those negative thoughts/beliefs that drive you crazy, the ones you know are not helpful but keep repeating themselves over and over. This “monkey mind” never leads to heartful living, only to more stress.

During your walk, remember one of these thoughts, and instead of trying to get rid of it, notice it and focus on your heart and be present to your breath. As you continue your walk, note if the negative thought loses any of its power.

Connect With Heart and Balance Feelings
Now, take out your piece of paper and choose one Heartful Quality that you desire. This Quality can be the remedy for any stress. Take a moment and, as you breathe, be present to that Heartful Quality. Create an intention for this Quality to become a stronger part of you. Feel the Quality as you walk and sense your true desire for that Quality.

Try repeating this process a few times throughout your walk. This process can be life changing!

After Your Walk
Check in with your body, mind and emotions after your walk. Notice if anything has shifted. The change may be subtle, but with practice and repetition, great change is possible.

My hope is that you deeply reconnect with the Qualities of your heart to make your life during this season and throughout the year more joyful and filled with love, creativity, and inspiration.

Mary McGill, MA, LPC believes we can live a heart-centered, purposeful life. She helps others embody this through her counseling practice and also offers The Way of the Heart™ Integration Process/Training. For more information on her company, Heart’s Call, visit www.heartscall.com or call 503-771-1789.