I am Two, the 1st Meditation, and How to Remember More Positive Things

I walked 70 miles this past week, partly to see if my body still remembered how I used to move back in 2018–2021.

While it was physically demanding, it ended up being more mentally therapeutic than anything.

And since walking has long been one of the core contemplative practices, I’m making this week’s 411 about walking.

Enjoy!

1. I am Two

“Lastly, you are not alone because when you walk you soon become two. Especially after walking for a long time. What I mean is that even when I am alone, there is always this dialogue between the body and the soul… Truly the soul is the body’s witness.”

— Frédéric Gros, A Philosophy of Walking

“The soul is the body’s witness.” That’s so good. That applies to all contemplative practices, not just walking.

P.S. Thanks to Robin—my good friend, fellow T1D, and pseudo-therapist—for sending me this book!

2. Hurrying Actually Speeds Up Time

“…my experience is the opposite: time passes more quickly when I increase the speed of travel. My speed and time accelerate in parallel. It is as if the duration of a single hour becomes less than a clock-hour. When I am in a rush, I hardly pay attention to anything at all.”

— Erling Kagge, Walking: One Step at a Time

We often hurry and rush to save time, but we’re reminded here that speed often has the opposite effect: time ends up going faster. Which is why Kagge says:

“And this is precisely the secret held by all those who go by foot: life is prolonged when you walk. Walking expands time rather than collapses it.”

3. How to Remember More Positive Things

“In experiments when people walked with a high-energy, bouncing gait they were able to remember more happy words from a list of emotionally charged words, while those who were asked to walk slowly and with little bounce remembered more of the negative ones, even when they weren’t aware that they were doing a “depressed”-or “happy”-style gait.”

– Caroline Williams, Move

How cool is that? You still probably won’t catch me bouncing down the sidewalk anytime soon lol, but it’s great motivation to put a little more pep in our step so we can potentially remember (or at least notice) more of the positive.

4. Nurturing Our Own Well-Being

“Yes, walking every day is essential to me, but I don’t do it just for myself. I do it for those who are around me. I believe we show up in the world with more clarity, intelligent energy, and self-awareness when we create the space to tend to our own wellbeing: mental, physical, emotional and spiritual.”

— Libby DeLana, Do Walk

And this doesn’t just apply to walking. It goes for any practice that nurtures your mental, physical, and spiritual well-being.

“Walking is the great adventure, the first meditation, a practice of heartiness and soul primary to humankind.”

— Gary Snyder

In good breath,

Nick

P.S. the next big method

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