Meditative Walks
Meditative walks, either guided or silent are a lovely and inspiring practice that supports a spiritual seeker. These walks, unlike other walk and not a way to get somewhere, rather they are the object by themselves. Similarly it has been said about the spiritual path – that it is the means as well as the aimed result.
Art, Meditation & Meditative Walks
Meditative walks can promote a peaceful state of mind and allows quite time to process the day or an event in an objective, quite and supportive environment. Regular practice can facilitate to maintain a healthy balanced life and also helps us avoid accumulating tension that is due to unresolved difficulties.
When we walk with no aim to get somewhere, we are available to enjoy the walk itself, the pace, the changing view and preferably the fresh air and open space. We can focus on our breath or just bring our attention to the body, the heart beat, the movement and the way it affects us. Steady tempo can allow us to withdraw for the habitual thought process and tune ourselves inside and to the nature around.
When we are surrounded by an especially delightful and inspiring setting we can simply enjoy beauty and let it naturally expand our chest and heart.
Why do we as meditative artiest practice meditative walks too?
Learning to see nature, the ultimate creating inspiration, is a part of the practice of meditative art. This requires dedicating time and paying specific attention.
As we regularly practice meditative walks we slowly start to see what we see when we look at nature, from the broad vision of nature as a whole to each leaf, flower and seed. Meditative walk is an integral part of meditative practice in different traditions and spiritual paths, such as Buddhism.
Meditative walks in our retreats
All of our courses and retreats take place in natural and beautiful places, lush forests, private islands and other magical locations. Being in such a supportive environment is a fascinating experience in general and especially when practicing meditative walks. The magnificent mountain ranges where we are situated provide endless walking paths, along rivers and waterfalls with countless trees, birds and the soothing sound flowing water. We love walking on the earth directly (not on asphalt or cement ground), we recommend walking barefoot for those that feel comfortable or wish to experiment.
A few words in general on the surrounding of a meditative walk
Although, meditative walks will be naturally practiced in beautiful and open places; this is not obligatory. We can practice meditative walks in a noisy and busy city accepting that its effect would not be as supportive, yet we must keep in mind that living in a hectic urban surrounding one may have a greater need for this practice.
While our retreats are always held at especially beautiful natural places, one is warmly advised to continue in this practice afterwards. If one is living in a city it is recommended to use this time to walk to a natural place near by – the beach, an open field or even the local park.
