These are questions for believers and unbelievers alike. The time away from other cares and pressures gives you time to dwell on these fundamentals.
Those working on positive thinking and affirmations can use their walking time to create or reinforce their affirmations.
Carolyn Scott Kortge says in The Spirited Walker, "Movement in the body brings movement in the mind. It is a natural alchemy. So many us seek this kind of movement in our lives, a fusion of being and doing. We long to restore wholeness within ourselves and to connect with one another and with the spiritual values that sustain and guide us."
Walking can be used like yoga to clear the mind and make yourself present to the moment or as a preparation for meditation. You can re-connect your mind and body, lose yourself in the perfect expression of rhythm, breathing, moving.
Walking can also be a tool to connect believers with God. Some use their walking time systematically to pray and to receive spiritual inspiration. As I walk, I give thanks for the beauty I see around me both in nature and in people I pass by or walk with. Praise comes easily and at times I feel like breaking into songs of worship, and do so if I am alone. The rhythm of walking, the integration of body and mind leaves you open to talk with God, uncluttered by other intrusions.
Walking has been used as an instrument for prayer by monks through the centuries. Walking a labyrinth is an ancient technique for prayer and meditation, see Walking the Labyrinth for some modern-day places to practice this spiritual quest.
One of my peak spiritual experiences was during the Portland to Coast Walk, alone at night in the Coast Range of Oregon, walking as fast as I could, breathing hard, with only the moon and stars and the shadowed forest. I felt alive, connected to the universe. The mover is moved.
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