Reflections on Walking Meditatively at Age 70
By Jim Holbrook
When I was in my 30s, I jogged 24 miles a week (4 times a week on a 6-mile route through my neighborhood). I jogged at a slow, 6-mile-per-hour pace. I focused primarily on “belly breathing” – letting by abdomen expand as I breathed in, and letting my abdomen contract as I breathed out. When I jogged, my attention was on my belly breathing and my stride count-per-breath cycle. I counted my strides on each breath cycle, getting into a rhythm of taking the same strides-per-breath cycle. The first 10 or 15 minutes of each jog felt effortful and after that it felt rather effortless. My strides-per-breath cycle remained steady when I jogged on flat terrain. My strides-per-breath cycle decreased and then steadied when I jogged uphill. My strides-per-breath cycle increased and then steadied when I jogged downhill.
I did not jog with a portable radio or tape player listening to music. Instead, I noticed but did not pay attention to the weather, the quality of the light, and my surroundings as I jogged. I listened to sounds in the neighborhood: cars starting, dogs barking, people talking. Thoughts floated in and out of my mind; I noticed my thoughts, but I did not pursue them or try to organize them. Generally I gazed in front of me; sometimes I looked up or around me. When I noticed that I was no longer focused on my breathing and strides-per-breath cycle, I consciously refocused on just them. At the end of an hour of jogging, I felt calm, relaxed, even “joyful.” I attributed this at the time to the endorphins my exercising had infused into my blood and brain: I was experiencing a natural high.
Four decades later I have learned that I had been jogging “meditatively” or “mindfully.” I had been silent, not distracted by listening to music. I had been open-minded, watching my thoughts come and go, but not thinking or planning or worrying. I focused on my breathing and my stride-counting; when my mind wandered, I refocused on my breathing and my stride-counting.
At age 70, I do all this again, as I walk meditatively for 45 minutes at a time as often as I can each week in my neighborhood. I quickly get into a rhythm of taking the same strides-per-breath cycle. My strides-per-breath cycle decrease walking uphill and increase walking downhill. I do not listen to music. I notice the weather, the quality of the light, and my surroundings. I listen to sounds in the neighborhood. Generally I look down; sometimes I look up or around me. I walk with my dog on a leash; we don’t pay attention to one another. Thoughts float in and out of my mind. When I notice that my mind has wandered, I refocus on my breathing and my stride-counting, all with an underlying sense of gratitude that I am alive, breathing, and walking with my dog. At the end of 45 minutes of walking, I feel calm, relaxed, and especially grateful. I experience a spiritual high, and I thank the Cosmos.
