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Tag: focus

Leave Stress Behind with Mindful Walking

Wed, October 6, 2021 Published by

Ever wish you could leave stress behind? You can, and you don’t have to travel very far to do it.

Perhaps the easiest of all the techniques I teach is mindful walking. Although remarkably simple to do, it’s a very powerful form of walking meditation that can defuse stress within minutes. Mindful walking relaxes the body by channeling anxiety and nervous energy into physical activity and calms the mind by promoting focused awareness. And it’s versatile: You don’t need to put on hiking boots, leave civilization, or climb a mountain to experience this restorative power of walking. You only need a few minutes of time and some room to walk, as long as you’re willing to change your state of mind. The goal is to use walking meditation to gently shift the focus of your attention from worrying about the past or the future, and to focus on what is actually happening in the present moment.


Here is a simple mindful walking exercise you can practice whenever you need it:

  1. While walking, pay attention to your breathing. Use this focus on the breath as an anchor to stabilize your attention.
  2. Next, allow yourself to notice any sights, sounds, or physical sensations that may come up as you walk. Rest your awareness for a moment on that sight, sound, or sensation, then return your awareness to your breathing.
  3. If persistent thoughts distract you from your mindful awareness, simply notice them, then return your awareness to your breathing.

Here is a variation of mindful walking that uses your breathing to consciously connect you to the vast web of life on planet Earth:

  1. As you focus on your breath, following the instructions above, remember that plants release the oxygen that you’re breathing into your lungs, and that, in turn, you breathe out the carbon dioxide that the plants take in.
  2. In your mind’s eye, follow your breath as you exhale. Imagine that you can see the carbon dioxide molecules leaving your nose or mouth and flowing into the leaves on the plants nearest you as you walk.
  3. As you breathe in, envision yourself inhaling the oxygen that the plants are giving off. Picture the trails of oxygen flowing from the trees, grass, flowers and shrubs into your lungs. Take note of how your visualization of this very natural process affects your sense of the world around you.

Slow to Speak

Fri, October 23, 2020 Published by

As I have been doing some preliminary reading and preparation for our upcoming Bible Study on the Book of Proverbs (which you can watch on Channel 1-2, 3:00pm, beginning on Wednesday, October 28th), one verse stood out to me, particularly when rendered in contemporary language: “You will say the wrong thing if you talk too much – so be sensible and watch what you say” (Prov. 10:19).

Lost and Found Again

Mon, July 8, 2019 Published by

This past week I read about an international research project conducted by Science Magazine. Hundreds of “lost” wallets containing large and small amounts of money were placed in locations around the world where they could easily be found, with the aim of the experiment being to see what would happen next. Would one nation be more honest than another? Would a particular age demographic be more honest than another? Would anybody turn in any of the wallets at all? Well the results have been surprising to read. Fascinatingly, the study revealed that the more money there was contained in a lost wallet- the more likely it was to be handed in to the fictitious owner, whose contact details were also left inside. For those of you wondering, Switzerland had the highest overall wallet return rates. China had the lowest, and the U.S. ranked around the middle of the 40 countries, at 21st place.

The project reminded me of those various parables that Jesus told about things being lost. Jesus’ teaching using allegorical stories is recorded in all four gospel texts, including stories about lost sheep, lost coins and lost children, with his intent and focus being to help us to understand the joy of God in the lost being found, and the rejoicing in heaven over those who find true fulfillment and joy in their lives by living fully into a relationship of faith and love with God.

According to the Science Magazine study, and contrary to what many might suppose, it would appear that civic honesty is still alive and well. It’s easy to be despondent about a perceived decline in what one might refer to as neighborliness and honesty, but the research certainly suggests that, when it comes to our society, all is not lost. And as we read in Jesus’ parables about the enduring and boundless love of God, it becomes clear that neither are we. May all who walk the pilgrimage of faith, and who search for meaning and purpose find voice for our hearts desire in the words of Martin Luther King’s favorite hymn; “Precious Lord, take my hand, lead me on, help me stand. I’m tired, I’m weak, I’m alone. Through the storm, through the night lead me on to the light, take my hand precious Lord, lead me home.” May all those who feel lost find a home amidst God’s love.

Come to the Quiet

Tue, June 18, 2019 Published by

Sometimes we don’t realize how noisy our world is until we escape to a place of quiet.  The Desert Mothers and Fathers believed that silence and quiet prevents us from being suffocated by our wordy and noisy world.  They believed that there is more to silence than not speaking; it is more than the absence of sound.  It is that space we create within, that portable cell, of rest and peace that can stay with us wherever we go.  Madeleine L’Engle wrote a book called A Circle of Quiet in which she described how every so often she needed out—away from all those people she loved most in the world in order to regain a sense of proportion.  Her special place was a small brook in a green glade, a circle of quiet: “I go to the brook because I get out of being, out of the essential.  If I sit for awhile, then my impatience, crossness, frustration, are indeed annihilated, and my sense of humor returns.”

Here on the campus we searched a long time for that circle of quiet, that place to gather thoughts and create that space to help us regain perspective.  Thanks to the inspiration and persistence of some of our residents, we created such a space but it remains yet undiscovered by many.  Irene Cool has helped shepherd the creation of our Quiet Place and I share with you her invitation to visit it.

“Come to the Quiet, Bring Thoughts That You Gather.  This is our Quiet Place at the east-side front of the Life Center and across from Ms. Kimberly’s office. It is there for you and me and all others to go to be still, away and alone or with another. It is there for us to pray, say or simply listen. Our room is there for us to rejoice, to sing, to weep but mostly to just be somewhere and away…from noise, from chatter…a free place to speculate or fret.  Fragrance fills the silence and helps to call on memories and allows our imaginations of happy times and remembrances of comforting places. Soft aromas can calm, purify our souls and heal our bodies.

The fountain of running water, a gentle mantra, assures us of the power of life…a continuum. A great purifier calms our anxieties.  Candles may be seen as a focal point for silence and we can increase our focus and concentration by simple candle gazing…to be mesmerized. The Himalayan salt lamp gives off a soft pink light which brings again the peace of the room to the soul.  So all of you who live here, caregivers and others…when you will sometime want a minute to rest…come to the quiet and find your peace.”

How I talk to God : How God talks to me.

Sun, March 31, 2019 Published by

This year, as well as fasting from my favorite treats, I have also been accompanied on my Lenten pilgrimage by the poet Malcolm Guite’s book Word in the Wilderness; A Poem a Day for Lent and Easter. Poems are an ideal companion for the season of Lent as we seek to reorient ourselves to God, with poetry often providing a call for us to ponder the wonders of the world around us while looking and listening for God at work in us.

One of the poems included in Guite’s collection is entitled How I talk to God, by Kelly Belemonte.

“Coffee in one hand leaning in to share – How I talk to God. ‘Momma, you’re special’, three-year-old touches my cheek – How God talks to me. While driving I make lists: done, do, hope, love, hate, try – How I talk to God. Above the highway hawk: high, alone, free, focused – How God talks to me. Rash, impetuous chatter, followed by silence – How I talk to God. First, second, third, fourth chance to hear, then another – How God talks to me. Fetal position under flannel sheets, weeping – How I talk to God. Moonlight on pillow tending to my open wounds – How God talks to me. Pulling from my heap of words, the ones that mean yes – How I talk to God. Infinite connects with finite, without words – How God talks to me.”

This beautiful work causes us to ask ‘What is prayer?’, and reminds us that a life of prayer is both speaking to God, but also listening, in turn.

In his reflection, Malcolm Guite says this;

“Saint Paul calls on us to pray without ceasing, leading some contemplatives have interpreted that as a call to leave the world with its business and distractions and seek long swathes of uninterrupted time devoted to prayer and prayer alone. Others have seen it as a call to have a continual hidden mantra, wheeling and cycling beneath all we do, providing an undercurrent or ground note of prayer beneath all our daily activities.”

In different ways for different people, both of these approaches are valid and neither exclusive of the other. Perhaps the greatest gift of Belemonte’s poem is to remind us, once again, that each day we find ourselves in conversation with God within the ordinariness of our lives.

May we all spend this season of Lent attuned to that conversation, to both speaking and listening, so that that the very rhythms of our everyday lives are opened up to God, and offered up as our unceasing prayer.*

Dream Lofty Dreams

Sun, November 11, 2018 Published by

There was a prophetic ring to Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s final article, written before his murder and published two weeks later.

His death has sparked global condemnation and a conversation over the importance of a free press and the right to free speech, and so it was particularly apt that his final comments referred to another journalist, currently imprisoned for making comments which displeased his nation’s government.

“Such actions,” Khashoggi wrote, “no longer carry the consequence of a backlash from the international community. Instead, they may trigger condemnation quickly followed by silence.” There has certainly been justifiable condemnation over Khashoggi’s death, but how quickly that condemnation is indeed followed by silence as the news media moves on to the next story.

Prophetic voices, those people who are called to draw into sharp focus the injustices and wrongs of their times are rarely welcomed. “They tell the prophets to keep quiet. They say, ‘Tell us what we want to hear. Let us keep our illusions’”, wrote Isaiah in the Old Testament.

Martin Luther King’s observation can continue to haunt us with its poignancy: “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends.” Dr King leads us to ask of ourselves; what value is our initial indignation at a wrong if our concern wains as the wind?

In our defense, we may often feel that the concerns of the world and the desire for us to keep a focus on those in need is simply overwhelming. Perhaps we would do well then to also keep in mind the thoughts of Methodist preacher and broadcaster Colin Morris; “being finite and fitfully loving humans, we can only really feel for a few…Only God can love them all. The most we can do is to take hold of the near edge of one of these great issues and seek to act at some cost to ourselves.”

May we be prophetic voices for the great issues and causes of our hearts, calling others to hear words of truth and to advance the causes of justice and joy. May we all yearn to advance the dreams of hope and peace as the philosopher James Allen once remarked;

“dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so you shall become. Your vision is the promise of what you shall one day be; your ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil”.*