Anne Malatt on Life

I love to walk.

My husband and I have big dogs, so we walk them every day, but that is not so much a walk as a series of pit-stops and encounters with other dogs and their owners and steering them back on the road when they go after trails of scents. So, much as I love them and our ‘walks’, I go for a walk with myself first.

I love walking with me. I love the feeling of being in my body and allowing it to move, without any encumbrances or agenda. I don’t walk to keep fit or lose weight or anything other than the fact that I love the feeling of it.

I find that my body and I go through a process as we walk.

Firstly, I tend to feel what is not quite right…stiffness, soreness, parts of my body that don’t quite flow with the whole of the movement. There may be slight jarring as I put my foot down, or a slight unsteadiness as I shift my weight from one foot to the other, or one shoulder blade feels tight, or I just don’t feel great. But if I just stay with myself and keep moving, these feelings usually settle down and my body finds its rhythm.

As I keep moving, I start to feel more lovely, and this lovely feeling grows. I feel more and more aware of the whole of my body, from the top of my head to the tips of my fingers and toes, and as I swing my arms I feel them moving through a field of something – energy, if you will, or love, if you prefer – and they tingle and feel warm and fiery. My hips and legs free up and I start to sashay down the street, feeling a lovely warmth inside.

The loveliness is not just contained within me…it extends out around me, and there is no difference between this loveliness in and around me and the loveliness of the world around us, the natural world that I love so dearly. I feel at ease in this world, and just surrender to that lovely feeling.

And as I surrender, I feel the purpose of moving in this way, deepening my connection with myself and the world around me, and with that sense of purpose comes a feeling of true power, of knowing who I am and what I am here to do.

And so I walk back home, to my husband and our dogs, filled with light, love, purpose and power…walking with God, who is in me and all around me, as He is in and around all of us.