Mindful Walking Exercise – Let’s be birds!

A mindful exercise to let go of Judgement and help you live a non-anxious life!

Who has anxiety? Just about everyone it seems these days. Is it just jumping on the band wagon or is something else going on?

As an anxiety sufferer (and yes, I am going to use that term)  and a Psychologist – I’ve wanted to dig deep in a whole lot of different ways to truly understand what is going on, and where my anxiety was coming from, so that I could get my hands on it and make a difference, and hopefully make a difference with others.

Make a difference, a positive difference –  to me, to my life, and to the lives of others.

What I’ve learnt is that it is the more sensitive souls amongst us that are predisposed to anxiety. I definitely came in with mine, and perhaps it is a vulnerability in the nervous system that I have inherited genetically, but then, did I choose that? Is there something more here to understand?

If you are a sensitive, empathic or creative person then read on…

If we look at the whole person (rather than the holes within a person!), you can see that it is often their sensitive nature that predisposes them to states of anxiety. Which often comes down to a fear of judgement.

Judgement of self – Fear of judgement of self by others – and YES – sometimes we can also get a little judgey, even if it’s only toward those we think are judging us! 🙂 Complicated much?

So today I’m going to share a little practice that I developed a number of years ago, that can really help us to open up and become more accepting – of ourselves as well as others.

And the motivation for this? To develop our spiritual nature and grow in life and soul. In this way you can start to see your anxiety as a gift – it’s definitely how I’ve come to see it, as it forces you to do the work to grow. Otherwise life is just too damn uncomfortable, and we never really get to achieve all that our souls want is to.

So here we go…

BIRDY BIRDY

First a little context.

While studying herbal medicine a number of years ago, I was fortunate enough to live on a beautiful rural property… one that even had its own waterfall! It was pure Bliss 🙂 And every morning I would walk to the waterfall to sit on a rock perched high up top, and meditate.

It’s evolutionary probably, I get it – but as noted before, anxiety is often experienced by sensitive, creative souls… empaths if you will, and this is higher order stuff!

Spiritual stuff.

The best way to walk is mindfully, otherwise you risk taking all of your ‘stressie thinking’ with you, arriving home just as tired and just as disgruntled as when you left, and having missed all the good stuff on the way! Ok, so this is easy when you don’t have any worries catching you up, so I am speaking to those times when you’re head is a mess.

So shake it off, take a few breaths before you leave, and then step outside the door with a smile on your face… or on your liver if you like! (little eat, pray, love reference there )

And while your walking I want you to remember how much you love the differences in color, in size, in form, in smell and sound… within the natural world Flowers, trees, insects and birds… could you imagine the world if they all looked the same?? BORING!

Keep this in mind as you come upon different people, see if you can open your heart and your mind, and view them with the exact same appreciation.

In whatever way they choose to express themselves in that moment, celebrate it… smile and give thanks – for they are indeed an expression of the creative forces – just like you!

Big hair, no hair; tattoos or no tattoos; orange, blue, black, brown, white, red, yellow skin; short skirts, long pants; ear-rings & piercings or covered in crystals – admire the expression of individuality – even if to you, it looks like a plain brown bird pecking at the grass.

This is a very simple exercise, but can offer so much joy if done with a wide open heart. So, let’s just try and be kind to one another