Nisha and Anil have been leading walks in nature in some of London’s parks for sometime now. I learned of their offering through my wish to attend Awakin circle during my visit to London. As I read about the places they had walked recently, Richmond Park and Hampton Wick, I realized these were the very same places I favored when I used to live in London almost two decades ago. Hence, I felt a draw to join them as they felt like my own people even though we had never met.

As we prepared to start our walking meditation, Anil explained that we will walk to a quiet spot in the park and continue the silence into a sitting meditation, and instructed us to focus on the sensation of walking on our feet, and not get distracted by the tremendous natural beauty that surrounded us. There was a beautiful long pond with several weeping willow trees along its bank on the same side as the path, and wide-open space with large trees in the distance, all shining a clear bright green of fresh spring.



We walked barefeet. The path had tender grass with just a hint of moisture in it. It felt delightfully refreshing on my feet, making me feel connected to mother earth without the barrier of my usual comfortable walking shoes. I focused on the sensations on my feet, as instructed by Anil. I noticed that there were some twigs on the path, some of them a bit sharp. Instinct had me resist stepping on them. Walking bare foot in nature is a rare treat, as the few times I have tried it elsewhere, the path had pebbles and conditions that demanded the protection the shoes offer. I was glad to have this gentle grassy path and decided I could bear the twigs without resisting stepping away, by thinking of it as natural acupressure. I will embrace the pain as a part of life’s essential experience and carry on as intended, mindfully. I learned that they do not break under my heavy weight as they are already too small, but their sharpness is felt on the soles of my feet in direct proportion to my weight. Small is strong and how we feel depends on what we carry.

When walking barefoot, even the mildest of changes in the levelness of the ground became noticeable. There were very small and gentle inclines one way or another every now and then. These gentle variations caused the entire body to go off-kilter. How easily even the smallest change in the environment can impact me, even as I claim to be walking with steady intention? I was now conversing with mother earth, and honoring to her power. An ordinary walk in shoes in the same place would have meant treading without noticing this, for the ground was pretty flat.

Suddenly, a gentle caress from a branch of the first of the weeping willows trees brushed my head. It felt like a blessing, for the traditional Indian way for elders to bless us is with a hand on our head. I loved that sensation and relaxed further into the present moment. There were a few other people walking past every now and then, and most would fall quiet as they walked past, perhaps noticing that the slower pace of my walk or the bare-footedness was a sign that I was practicing some ritual they wanted to be respectful towards.

My walk found a rhythm to it. My energy or maybe my attention moved up from the soles of my feet into my calves and knees. I honored the pace as the dialog with the here and now continued. Suddenly, I realized that none of my group members were ahead of me. I had followed them on the path but was now in the lead, without knowing the plans of when and where we were headed and how we had to transition to the sitting meditation at some point of time. The path was straight and I could stay on it and continue the walk, but I did not want to be in the lead. I decided to wait and use the pause to honor the water alongside which I had been walking. As I waited for a few others of the group to come up the path, the bliss of being surrounded by nature energized me. I acknowledged that in life, it is fine to lead and it is also just fine to not want to lead. We have permission to do both as we are called to and honor it either way.  



On the path, I noticed a turd, perhaps from a small dog or a big water bird. Although I had decided to embrace the twigs and not avoid them, I chose to avoid stepping on the turd. Embrace some discomfort but permit yourself to avoid some too. In life too, sometimes take a stand to engage even if it leads to difficulties, and at other times, avoid an unproductive confrontation. It is healthy to know my limits and where my edges are, even as I challenge and push beyond them. Going over the edge is not good self-care. Boundaries have a role to serve.

I was reminded of the story of three steps and a bow meditation that I had heard at the Awakin circles. I was energized to give this a try. The energy from the earth had moved up from calves and knees to the torso and I felt called to bring my head towards earth. So, even though I had no idea what a three step and a bow meditation looks like, I just spontaneously went into a three steps and a forward bend walk. It felt like a completely normal thing to do. Surprisingly, and pleasantly so, there was no sense of any awkwardness with it, not even as others walked past, if anyone did. It was just as it was meant to be. Pretty soon, I noticed that others had found a place amongst the row of large trees under which they were gathering in a circle.

As I walked towards the trees, a little dog, one of the three walking with some people, lingered back to yelp incessantly for a bit. As my eyes and ears noticed the dog, my inner voice spoke to me a silent but deep baritone and said clearly, “Pay no heed. You do your thing just as the dog does his thing. Dogs bark.” I found my place amongst the group. As we prepared to sit, Anil offered me a cushion to sit on. A pleasant breeze washed away any lingering traces of the rest of the world. The sun offered its grace. Peace prevailed. Time stood still.

Anil announced the end of the allotted time. Nisha led us through a standing homage and connecting to the Sun. We had a beautiful circle of sharing and listening to each other. A small deer came out and frolicked nearby, periodically pausing to look at us with the same curious gaze that we offered him. We closed with a couple of minutes of silence.

We set out a picnic and shared some stories of Awakin and our experiences as we enjoyed the picnic together. I did not feel that I was with a group of strangers whom I had just met that morning. I felt right at home; with family I had known all my life. That we were from different parts of the world (Holland, South Africa, UK, USA) different ages, professions, lives and didn’t even know anything about each other, and had just barely heard each other’s names minutes ago, did not matter. We were all blessed by Mother Earth, sitting under Father Sky and energized by Sun in a shared peaceful communion. Later we played some games, took a few pictures, hugged some trees and had a group hug, before walking back to go our own way.



As we walked back, I learned that on a previous visit to this park, Nisha, Anil and another friend, had spontaneously done three steps and a bow meditation close to the water’s edge, not far from the place where I had been called to give it a spontaneous try earlier that morning. I suspect that there is a natural energy to that space that draws some of us into that blessed mode of taking the three steps and a bow. Days later, I am still cherishing the memory and am grateful to Nisha and Anil for bringing us all together for it and sharing these pictures.