Walking meditations

Photo by Charles Smith

There's the kind of mediation that looks like sitting still, in a quieted and sunlit room, eyes closed, mind empty, where peace and serenity fall from on high. 

And then there's the kind that happens while moving, walking through solitary streets at night, thinking many thoughts with a busy mind, setting your soul out to wander towards a destination or not, where peace and serenity are gathered like daisies and found with purpose in the boulevard.

I prefer the latter when possible, finding myself on certain days (inexplicable when they arrive—it could just as easily be in the snow packed winter as the dog days of summer) that I cannot fathom putting my body underground to catch the subway or into a stuffy, moving box just to sit in traffic. And so if I have the time, and sometimes when I don't, if I have comfortable shoes and energy to burn, I walk. For the exercise, solitude, the meditative properties, and for the ability to both listen and receive.