Feelings follow behavior.
-David K. Reynolds
You can do this exercise any time you have ten or more minutes and a place to walk. For the best results, do it the second you notice your mood starting to drop.
The first part of the walk is the hardest: pick your goal, get up from your chair, and start. Some people also like to take a second to jot down how they’re feeling. After that, all you have to do is walk–and pay attention. Here are five points of focus to get you started. Pick the one (only one!) that most appeals to you.
1- As you walk, notice the color blue. Look up at the sky, down at the ground, around you at clothing, signs, people. Pay attention to the varying shades and hues of blue. This works particularly well when you’re feeling anxious.
2- Alternately, focus on yellow objects around you. As with number one, take the time to look all around, notice the variations on yellow.
3- Smile at a stranger, or two, or five… Set the number that’s right for your comfort level. You might find one smile to be a challenge, or you might want to extend your goal to getting the stranger to smile back.
4- Count your steps. This is a good one if you have to walk indoors. I recommend counting to ten and then starting again at one. If you lose count, simply return to one and congratulate yourself on returning to your goal.
5- Listen to the birds. Even in an urban environment, you’ll likely hear some birds chirping. I was amazed when I first started doing this–I thought city birds only sang in the mornings!
Most likely, your attention will wander during this exercise. When you notice it has, pat yourself on the back for noticing and return to your point of focus. When it happens again, return again. Continue for at least ten minutes.
When you finish, take a second to notice if you feel any different, writing down your emotional state now if you did so at the start of the walk. Has your breathing changed? Do you feel heavier? Lighter?
Did you have any difficulties? Breakthroughs? Feel free to share your results here.
Subscribe!
I do these things a lot and didn’t even know why. Now I know.
g
{smile}