Mindful Walking

About ten minutes ago, I was "all in a flap" - suddenly worried about everything on my To Do list, flustering around, moving with little success from one task to another without really achieving anything. 

Then I remembered Mindful Walking.

I did a retreat some years ago with a nun who introduced me to this practice. The slow, steady pacing as a form of meditation was novel to me back then, but seemed the perfect solution to bring my mind into focus. 

So off came the shoes, and on came the careful placing of one foot before the next, feeling the sensation of each part of the foot making contact with the floor, moving slowly forward, breathing mindfully in and then out with each footfall. 

My mind cleared, my priorities became clear, and I returned to my desk ready - and able! - to get some serious work done. 

I'll never forget one thing that nun taught me. She said: "A saint is a person who irons while she is ironing. A saint is a person who talks while she is talking. A saint is a person who eats while she is eating." I'm sure she had borrowed these phrases from the Buddhist tradition, where mindful breathing and walking come from, but they have stayed with me ever since. 

And now, I must leave you, to be a woman who works while she is working.