One of my favorite spiritual practices is walking a labyrinth. I was introduced to it years ago at a New Year’s Eve candlelight labyrinth walk. I’ve been hooked ever since and would do it more often if we had an accessible one nearby. On Sunday we put out our fabric one (similar to the picture) for the Sunday morning service. I’m the Chair of our Spiritual Practices Council which planned the service. I was the main speaker and my sermon was titled: “Finding Your Center in the Midst of Chaos.” After the service one of our congregation members, psychology professor Dr. Robert Thayer, came up to me and we talked about walking the labyrinth in relation to his research. He was familiar with labyrinths but it was his first time actually walking one.
“The best and most reliable way to improve your mood is to take a brisk, ten-minute walk. No kidding. If you are in a bad mood (and perhaps semiconsciously craving a sugar snack, a call to a friend, a trip to the mall, a cigarette, a cup of coffee, a shot of tequila, or whatever) the most reliable way to immediately start to feel better is to take a brisk walk. Taking a walk may not come to mind as the best choice, but the research says that it is best.”
Through my own experience I discovered the importance of walking in terms of health and stress-relief. Dr. Thayer gives us specific language which describes states of energy and tension that work together for optimum happiness and effectiveness. Not surprisingly, high energy and low tension is the best combination. In the next article, Kiesling makes a more direction connection to spiritual practices such as walking a labyrinth.
“The beauty of Robert Thayer’s mood research is that it is so firmly grounded by the documented experience of thousands of people. He can say with authority that the best ways to improve mood are to take a walk or talk to a friend or meditate or pray. Meanwhile, other researchers, such as James Rippe, M.D., at the University of Massachusetts, have expanded on that work to test combinations: Are walking meditation, prayer-walking, and mindful exercises such as Tai Chi more effective at boosting energy and reducing tension than walking alone? The answer, not surprisingly, is yes. Combining prayer or mindfulness with walking turns out be a “double dip” of happiness.”
In contrast to the sad things going on in my life at the moment, I gave my first sermon on Sunday. It was short and of course only mediocre. However, once I got past the nausea, I was thrilled by the fact that I could envision myself giving the same sermon in the future. I could see myself improving the sermon each time and could see my own ability to engage with the congregation improving. It was wonderful to get past my own insecurities and be able to see that moment as the first awkward step on a journey. The first tender shoots sprouting from the seed of my calling.
I even kept my sense of humor through the immediate “loving” criticisms of a few congregation members (including from a theater director). I decided that my diamond-in-the-rough-self can be a group project. It takes a village, right? Besides, the people who gave me positive feedback said some really wondeful things from the heart. They were the ones who helped me to catch a glimpse of what I hope to become.
I’ve been meaning to post but I’ve had so much going on that I haven’t managed to get back into the swing of it. I really shouldn’t take the time with my final paper to write. But I’ve been sad this week over my sick kitty. I’ve had to watch her crouched with a look of suffering and sometimes, like this morning, drool coming from her mouth. I’m afraid the antibiotic we’re giving her is not working and that at the vet tomorrow morning we’ll be faced with a decision we dread. I’m not ready to say good-bye to Tao, but I can’t bear to see her suffer. We have three other kitties to love, but each one is special. My grandmother is quoted as saying that she would never get another animal when hers died, because it was too painful to lose them. She always did get another of course.
Stumbling through the forest in search of the path to healing, I discovered that the very act of moving my body can be healing. Not just the cumulative effect of regular exercise which is the focus of medical research, but in the very moment that I am moving. I found that my intention and emotion can shape whether movement is healing. I found a big difference between the walks I took that focused on physical intensity and speed and the walks that focused on relaxation and fluidity. It was the latter type that I found the most healing for chronic pain. When I progressed from short 5-15 minute walks to regular 30-60 minute walks, I added dance to my movement repertoire. Our Parks & Recreation program offers bellydance classes that have become a favorite of mine.
Attending the Neuroscience and Spiritual Practice conference at Claremont Theological School yesterday, I was reminded by one of the speakers, Dr. Monica Coleman, of my interest in Gabrielle Roth‘s dance method of spiritual practice. I have some of DVDs and had tried them a few times and kept meaning to get back to them. When I returned from the Spiritual Formation class in August, I actually dug out the DVD set and it had been sitting on my coffee table waiting for me. Inspired by last night’s lecture, I moved past my inertia and put The Wave in my DVD player. I then danced my stiff body around my living room for about 3o minutes. It felt awkward at times, but I know over time I will move past my self-consciousness. Gabrielle Roth even points out that we will feel resistant to some types of movement and to just move through it. I also unearthed Roth’s book which I had been meaning to read, Sweat Your Prayers: Movement as Spiritual Practice. Since becoming a full-time graduate student, I spend a lot of time sitting so I need to balance it with more movement. Perhaps I will create a daily dancing practice. Wouldn’t that be wonderful!
Earlier this year, I fell in love with a radio show on Pacifica station KPFA, the Visionary Activist Show. I’ve been happily amazed by how so many of my favorite subjects and authors get woven together on Caroline Casey‘s show. I love the mix of mythology and social justice issues. The day she quoted from both Zora Neale Hurston and Loren Eiseley, I was hooked. I listen to the podcast when I go for walks, and after obsessively working my way through the archives I am finally caught up. The guest on last week’s show, Paul Stamets, will be a presenter at the upcoming Bioneers conference. I had heard of his amazing work with mushrooms (video below) but this was the first time I heard him speak about it. His research includes cleaning polluted soil, creating new insecticides, and treating smallpox. Van Jones, the 2008 Ware Lecturer will also be at the Bioneers conference, as will Atema Eclai, Director of Programs at the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee. Attending the conference is definitely on my list of things to do, when I have a few bucks to spare.
One of my favorite spiritual practices is walking a labyrinth. I was introduced to it years ago at a New Year’s Eve candlelight labyrinth walk. I’ve been hooked ever since and would do it more often if we had an accessible one nearby. On Sunday we put out our fabric one (similar to the picture) for the Sunday morning service. I’m the Chair of our Spiritual Practices Council which planned the service. I was the main speaker and my sermon was titled: “Finding Your Center in the Midst of Chaos.” After the service one of our congregation members, psychology professor Dr. Robert Thayer, came up to me and we talked about walking the labyrinth in relation to his research. He was familiar with labyrinths but it was his first time actually walking one.
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