Mindful Strides

Mindful Strides

How the sights, sounds and physicality of the beach unite with my senses to ground me, focus me and, ultimately, relax me.

I am standing on the beach with a small pebble in my hand. My arms are hanging loosely by my sides and I am looking out to sea. I breathe deeply as I focus on the push and pull of the tide. I inhale slowly and exhale slowly.

With the sea by my side I take a step. Just one. I can feel the bumpy pebbles under my feet and I let the feeling ground me to the beach. The pebbles slide against each other, crunching. I breathe in through my nose and taste the salty air. I breathe out. I connect the shush-shush of the waves hitting the shingle to the beating of my heart.

As I begin to walk slowly along the beach I take note of the wind in my face. I open my mouth and let the ozone fill my lungs. I run my fingers over the bumps and curves of the pebble in my hand and note the texture of it and how it feels against my fingers. I seek out the connection from the pebble in my hand to the ozone in my lungs. I inhale slowly. I exhale slowly.

I think about my feet and ankles treading on the pebbly beach, how they are supporting me on this uneven surface. My toes, inside my shoes, grip the pebbles. My knees are aching but that is good. It means that I’m alive. I concentrate on the feel of my skin. The hairs on my arms and legs are being brushed under my clothes. I can feel how the muscles in my thighs move and I open myself to the relationship that my body has with the surface beneath me. I inhale deep and exhale deep.

A dark cloud glides slowly across the sky and drops cold rain on my face. My skin tingles. The rain lands on my eyelashes. I put out my tongue to lick the drops of water from my lips. The cool water is refreshing and the ocean smell of the pebbles becomes stronger as they are wetted. My senses are heightened and connected to the natural life-giving elements around me.

I am conscious of the feel of the wind in my hair and on my face. I focus on the fresh energy of the salty breeze energising my follicles. I lick the salt from my wind-chapped lips. The sun warms my face and neck and, as I breathe in and out, I imagine the energy of the sun recharging me, strengthening me. I soak up that positive energy and fill my lungs with the smells around me - the fresh scent coming from the sea as the waves climb up the shingle and the drier, salty smell of washed up seaweed. This is nature and it is good. I let it purify my body and my mind.

As I walk, I listen. The waves are crashing. The shingle is sliding. My feet are crunching against the pebbles and above me seagulls are calling. I allow these sounds to soak into my mind. I concentrate on the rhythmic ebb and flow of the tide, the march of my feet and the cry of the gulls. I let this music comfort me in time with the pulsating inside me. I breathe it in and I breathe it out.

My lungs are working hard now and so I stop walking. I face the sea once more. I close my eyes and soak up the sound of the waves on the shingle. I smell the ozone and feel the pebble in my hand. As I inhale and exhale I can feel my heartbeat is slowing down. The ache in my knees is subsiding. I give silent thanks to the seashore for grounding me once again and for bringing me peace.

I am re-vitalised. My mind is clear and my body is relaxed.