Every path, every street in the world is your walking meditation path. Nhat Hanh

A person walks 65,000 miles in their lifetime – that’s equivalent to walking three times around the earth.  I’ve been a walker all my life. Long walks. Short walks. Rain walks. Hot walks. I’ve grown to enjoy any walk where I can just be present with all my senses in the moment, listening, seeing, smelling, feeling and being. Walking has helped me figure out problems, process grief and transitions, recognize joys and accomplishments, and most of all, helped me stay healthy and well.

Even if you don’t exercise regularly, research has found that walking even 4000 more steps a day can have a positive impact on your health and mental health. Some facts about the benefits of walking include:

• One mile is about 2,000 steps, or a 20-minute walk.
• Duke University Medical Center found that a brisk 30-minute walk or jog around a track three times a week was just as effective as antidepressant medication in relieving the symptoms of major depression 

Every year I challenge myself to participate in a year long challenge of some big goal or experience. This year I’ve been participating in a virtual challenge to walk the Appalachian Trail in 365 days which is 1968 miles in length from North Georgia to Maine. Today I crossed the 1000 mile mark! Whew! It feels good to have achieved that goal — that’s alot of steps!!!!! I’m not sure if I’ll be able to finish all of the miles by Dec. 31st but it’s been a really great motivator to get me (and my dog Marty) up and out most mornings! I’ve listened to some wonderful podcasts and interviews and learned alot; it’s kept me focused and mentally balanced in this uncertain world.

WHAT I’M LISTENING TO ON MY WALKS

• OnBeing podcast (thoughtful, broad/deep analysis, comforting for this time)
• Snap Judgement (best storytelling out there!) My hands down favorite episode: Haenyeo about the deep sea diving fisherwomen in Korea
• The Confessional with Nadia-Bolz Weber (brilliant, irreverent take on faith, social justice, love and grace)

WHAT I’M READING RIGHT NOW:

The world is hard and heavy right now — there is so much loss, grief, uncertainty and imbalance. Even Mother Nature is grieving with the fires, the floods, the droughts.

I’m walking to keep moving forward, to keep hope going. It’s not easy and there are days when I just want to stay in. One day at a time is more true than ever. One step at a time. One mile at a time. Breathing. Breathing. Breathing.

This quote has been a a beacon for me this month:

“The biggest gift you can give is to be absolutely present, and when you’re worrying about whether you’re hopeful or hopeless or pessimistic or optimistic, who cares? The main thing is that you’re showing up, that you’re here and that you’re finding ever more capacity to love this world because it will not be healed without that. That was what is going to unleash our intelligence and our ingenuity and our solidarity for the healing of our world.”
― Joanna Macy

May you walk steadily and gently as we enter this fall season; take care of yourself and don’t forget to breathe and look up.