THE ART OF SLOW
(Photo by Luca-Ambrosi on Unsplash)
What is it that the tortoise knows about slow walking and that we have to keep learning over and over and over?
’SLOW’ wins the race!’
‘SLOW’ holds the key to a life fully experienced.
‘SLOW’ increases our awareness and sensitivity to everything around us.
In our society, we struggle to escape ’SLOW,’ seeking speed and productivity in a competition of what?
When it comes to life, the person who gets to the end first is not the winner!
SLOW WALKING
Winters arrive cold and icy in New England, and the joy of taking walks is on hold as we try to remember that spring is coming.
Someday.
I have been waiting throughout a long cold New England winter until the days get warm enough to take my dog, Dekker, and go for a nice long slow walk.
Not so long ago, the cold weather wouldn’t stop me.
I grew up with frost on the windowpane, mounds of white snow along the roadway, icicles along the eaves, and the smell of woodsmoke spiraling from chimney tops wholly sent my spine to shivering…shivering with delight and anticipation of frequent treks into the frozen countryside.
I was young. And limber. And naive.
And oblivious to a world in which unexpected events change our trajectories and the way we navigate our world. (Photo by Jaren Lim on Unsplash)
In my mid-twenties, I woke up to a right leg that wouldn’t move like the left one and a pair of eyes that saw double everywhere I looked. MS became my life’s ever-present companion.
Today, aging bones and Raynaud’s syndrome have joined the team, and now the idea of trekking out in below freezing temps feels like insanity.
Some days walking becomes a challenge despite the weather, and so I make a few changes for the cold season of winter:
Modifications and adaptations like walking inside around a gym instead of icy roads- A fire in the fireplace to wait for warmer temperatures and dream about forest paths in spring
- Ice cleats on my shoes when I do go out
- A walking bike with good treads to navigate snowy roads
- Walking poles with their own set of ice grips
- Short slow forays into the cold with faster returns.
SLOW AND SHORT
Some gifts of walking “slow and short” are we get to savor the beauty of each moment, each step, each breath.
We get to do a lot of thinking about what we want to do and how to do it.
Our hearts and brains open wide to receive creative ideas that fall from some mystical place in the universe like leaves in autumn. (Photo by Jaren Lim Unsplash)
By the time we return home, with plans to save the world from war and famine and heartbreak, we feel energetic enough in spirit, if not body, to follow through on all of them.
Of course, we also become filled with lessor plans like finishing the novel we are reading as well as the laundry. I usually go straight to my desk to plant some seeds of thought that germinated during my walk. (Photo by Green Chameleon on Sunsplash)
WALKING SLOW MAY BE MORE DIFFICULT
THAN WALKING FAST FOR SOME PEOPLE
There is a prevalent mindset in our society that urges us to take on more and more, work faster and harder, and produce as much as possible.
This mindset appears to have arisen after WWII amidst an industrial boom.
To not ‘keep up with the Joneses’ brought shame…and continues to do so today.
The only way we can avoid sliding into a shame pit is to keep up a pace meant for Olympic competitions.
We drive fast, eat fast, work fast, and even sleep fast, declaring that 5 hours a night is sufficient. (Photo by Dawid Zawila on Unsplash)
Therefore we become sleep deprived, obese, endangering people on the roads while polluting the earth, all in the name of finding happiness through productivity and accomplishment. (Photo by Terry Jaskiw on Unsplash)
And doing so quickly!
Sometimes another person will go walking with me…but not often.
They say I walk too slow.
For them, and perhaps for you, walking is exercise and isn’t measured in sunrises and autumn colors but with pulse rate and a number of steps.
I would propose that we are doing separate things, although it appears the same as we put one foot after the other going around the same block.
Walking as exercise strengthens leg and back muscles, gets the heart pumping harder, which sets in motion many healthy responses in the body, including digestion, respiration, and not a few endorphins, the happy chemicals in our brains.
I do not underestimate the value of walking as exercise. What I do contend, however, is that our bodies need more than sweat to be healthy.
SLOW WALKING VS ‘MINDFUL’ WALKING
Thich Nhat Hahn advocates Mindful Walking, which is a lot slower than what I call ‘Slow Walking.’
In mindful walking, very teeny movements of feet, joints, and limbs are felt and savored together with an awareness of the breath as each step continues in slow motion.
Stimulation comes not from conversation, or (gasp) earphones delivering podcasts, nor is there multi-tasking going on in brains wired for production.
Have you ever observed people engaged in mindful walking? (Click the link to check this out)
I used to see ‘slow’ as a disability and apologize. Now I only smile…and keep moving.
Today I remember that “The tortoise won the race.” And that is my most frequent comment to those who bemoan ‘SLOW’ anyplace.
While others circle the gym floor during winter months, counting laps to garner 13 to make a mile and check their smartwatches to reach a 10K step goal, I tread steadily along at a snail’s pace, mindful of the squeak of my sneakers, feeling air moving through my nostrils as I explore the wooden floor as carefully as this snail moving over his rock. (Photo by Martin Vysoudil on Unsplash)
Why? I am not looking for anything particular, but I want to savor each slow-moment with gratitude and joy! And who knows? The other day I found a penny!
Won’t you join me in celebrating SLOW?
IF YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY SIGNED UP FOR WEEKLY “SEEDS”, YOU MAY WANT TO NOW. EACH SUNDAY MORNING YOU WILL RECEIVE IMAGES, QUOTES AND QUESTIONS TO PROMPT YOUR OWN REFLECTIONS.
Judith ScarboroughLLP
Lovely thoughts for a Sunday morning. Thank you! Walking my dog is almost a slow walk, since she has lots of sniff and pee stops. It isn’t mindful though, since I am very aware of our surroundings to keep ahead of any other critters who might capture her attention. I may try going on a walk alone (gasp!) and incorporate the mindful part. Thank you for this essay!
Ardis Mayo
Ah yes…slow is not exactly most dog’s tempo. Especially if there is a squirrel in the bush. May you find a pace that fills your spirit!
VickiJolene
Ardis I NEEDED this! For a couple of weeks I’ve been hurting and having to walk “too” slowly.
A great reminder that slow is good. And the Word I needed for today is the big push to move things quickly into our garage— with young people help. Your reflections remind me that I may need to slow my thoughts and respond rather than react… slow down the pace in all ways. I believe I’ll be rereading this many times.
Thank you.
Ardis Mayo
I am so glad these thoughts met you at your point of need! I never know when I post them who might need them at that moment. Thank you so much for sharing. Whether you go fast or slow you will eventually get moved. May echoes in adagio accompany you as you go forward.
Bonnie
This lovely reflection reminded me of my “forest bathing” experiences. We were encouraged to walk slowly, stop often, and use all our senses as we moved slowly through the trees. Thank you.
Ardis Mayo
I have heard about forest bathing. Even put a book in my cart and never bought it. It sounds like a perfect example of slow walking. Thanks for sharing.
Vernita Leins
Mindful walking. Several years ago I had the luxury of spending a few days in a Zen monastery in New York. Meditative or mindful walking was a part of each morning and evening’s zazen. It was a wonderful introduction for me to that term. Years prior, my husband and I lived in a tipi in the woods (yes, year-round in Maine). It was a twenty minute hike uphill (we called it “the hill”) through the woods to get there and, obviously, twenty minutes in the opposite direction. Our lives were definitely “slow.” The discoveries we made about ourselves, our environment, our relationship with life/nature in general solidified and deepened that intuitive side of myself that I enjoyed as a child alone exploring the woods with my dog on my parents farm. This fast-paced world we live in today does not honor such ceremony. It worships “Fast” to the detriment of one’s health and well-being. This past week I had to travel to and from Massachusetts (twice) on the fast-paced interstates. Yes, I do drive fast because I truly enjoy driving – feeling the road, the steering wheel in my hands, the sounds of the car moving over the pavement, etc. But something I added this time. Meditation. Now most people think of meditation as going slow, or sitting quietly, but this was meditation in moving rapidly through time and space. I discovered that this “moving meditation” made me alert, aware, focused, relaxed even in heavy traffic. Time actually seemed to slow down. I have a mantra that runs in my head even now while sitting here typing. The beauty of it all was experiencing the slow in fast. Feeling “the hill,” the walk in the woods, the stillness around me, inside me at the same time. Not separate from it but it interspersed in me and I in it. It has given me a new meaning to work with – no, I correct myself – a new meaning into my life’s experience. Yes, I get tired, but with it there is a sense of being refreshed, aware, relaxed. I look forward to continuing with this new discovery and experience what new knowledge this brings my way and discovering what I bring to it! – And on those days when necessary, to “bring the slow to fast”!
Ardis Mayo
What delightful experiences in mindfulness. I especially like “experiencing the slow in fast.” Your ‘slow’ practice informs how you teach and live and bless the world. thank you!