Walk Like a Camel
"But it sometimes happens that I cannot easily shake off the village. The thought of some work will run in my head, and I am not where my body is, - I am out of my senses. In my walks I would fain return to my senses. What business have I in the woods, if I am thinking of something out of the woods?"
Herny Thoreau, Walking
We tend to think of the struggles of the current day as being novel in some fashion, take, for instance, the siren call and attending pitfalls of our modern digital age. Yet Thoreau had a sense of the same struggle back in 1851 when he first delivered his lecture, Walking, the lecture he delivered more than any other. Thoreau believed the pull of society was unhealthy when not balanced with time spent walking in nature, which was his means of reconnecting body and mind in the present moment. He specifies that the walking he speaks of is not for the “taking of exercise”, rather one must “walk like a camel”, thoughtfully and deliberately. He talks of being alarmed when he has “walked into the woods bodily, without getting there in spirit”. Though seasonal realities mean we will confine our walking to indoors, we hope you will join us next week as we “walk like camels”, placing our full attention just on what it is to walk, without having anywhere to be, but right where we are. Alternative gentle movement and seated meditation will also be offered.
And if you’re looking for a lovely treatise on disconnecting from “the village” and reconnecting with oneself and nature, we highly recommend reading Thoreau’s essay, Walking, linked here: https://www.walden.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Walking-1.pdf
As a reminder, CMP survives on donations. All of our weekly sessions are free and open to the public, but donations are essential to our sustainability. Checks, cash and credit cards are accepted and donations are tax deductible.
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May all beings everywhere, without exception, find peace in the connection between mind and body,
CMP
