Walking to work one recent morning, the journey became a kind of “enforced” walking meditation. The sidewalks were icy after a snowstorm and then very cold temperatures, and the walkways in Central Park were a continuous sheet of ice.

Each step of that morning’s walk was profoundly conscious, as I didn’t want to fall. I noticed the feel of the ice underfoot, and walked with an awareness I don’t often give to every step during my usual comings and goings. Then, when I left the main walkway to go in amongst the trees, the crunch of icy snow underfoot revealed another way to keep each step in my conscious awareness. The sound and feel of the crunch became my focus, as the threat of slipping disappeared. Then, I came to a point in the walk where the path under some trees had been walked by so many people that it had become icy, like the walkways. Here, I had the experience of being conscious of both the possibility of slipping and the occasional crunch when my feet landed on patches of icy snow.

Even as the entire walk became a meditation, I wasn’t going as slowly as walking meditation invites us to do. I found that I enjoyed the process of staying present to each step, even as I felt a bit precarious on the ice. I slipped once, landing on a knee, but it was a gentle fall. I noticed that all of us who met one another in the park that morning were particularly open to connecting, as we mentioned the quality of ice in passing, or offered encouragement. This was a side benefit of being forced to be so conscious of our experience, and I appreciated the early morning camaraderie.

And so, for this week, I invite you to become more conscious of the literal steps you take during the day – either outdoors as you walk from here to there, or in your home or business as you move around your environment doing this and that. There is something calming and centering about allowing walking to become a meditation, even when you’re moving along somewhat quickly, as I experienced when I found myself surprisingly relaxed, yet alert, as I walked on the ice to work that morning.

The point of this experiment isn’t to get anywhere in particular, or to be aware of anything specific. Instead, it’s an invitation to slow down your awareness and inhabit more consciously the way in which you move through your environment, literally. Allow yourself simply to notice how it is to feel the bottoms of your feet as you walk, and to sense and feel the surface underfoot. Explore how becoming aware of walking can also become an invitation to settle into yourself more comfortably – or, perhaps, bring into awareness some discomfort in your body. Whatever you discover, notice what it’s like to actually *be there* as you move around during the day.