Moving at Our Own Pace

Moving at our own pace

I have just returned from a break where I hiked and camped in the wilderness.  Being on my own, I moved totally at my own pace.  Life was simple, there was collecting wood for a fire each day.  There was producing simple meals from my dehydrated meal supplies.  After that, there was only meditation, gentle walking and lying in bed when I felt like it, reading, writing and relaxing.  I also spent so much time enjoying the natural scenery, the changing light and beauty of the forest, the movements of birds and animals, the shifting of weather and temperature. My time was really spent nature bathing.  I have returned again feeling so energised and relaxed that I want to talk about the importance of moving at our own pace as a source of health and vitality for our lives.

Moving at our own pace can help us to deeply restore and retain our energy for life. Our kidney energy is the bubbling spring of our lives, it gives us yin energy (Jing and Marrow) which lubricates, strengthens and preserves our strength.  The kidneys also produce all of our yang energy that rises up as power to digest, maintain bodily functions and have energy when we exercise or work. As well as supporting our health, moving and working at our own pace can be a way of being gentle with ourselves.  It represents a loving and kind gesture, a respect for the body we live in for our time in this world.

Our modern society is more focussed on this yang energy. We have a range of products to keep us going when we are tired, to avoid tiredness, to keep burning at all times.  But the truth is, this way of life can be quite depleting. In fact, Yang energy must be born from Yin.  These two balance each other.  If are always over active, we are actually stealing from Yin.  If we rest appropriately, Yang will be strong. Conversely, the more we rest, the stronger we will be.

This is a mystery that we must each discover and find within ourselves. What is ‘my pace’ at which I work best?  I personally have spent a lifetime rushing and being organised and prepared – for the sake of something or someone else.  In the end, I find my pace at which I work best and retain my energy is very slow. If I move slowly, I do not tire easily and ‘crash’ in the afternoons.  I also need to avoid being ‘in my head’ – thinking all the time about the next task to be done and then collapsing, having to lie down to recover.

We also need to discover what level and type of rest and recuperation best suits my body. The question is what rest works for me.  Usually, I do long hikes in the wilderness to be in far-away places.  This time, I did only a short walk and rested, meditated and forest bathed more than I walked.  This worked well for me. I also needed the right level of activity and rest.  I could not have just sat for days, but with some day walks, some wood collecting and plenty of rest, I came home thoroughly regenerated. What type and level of rest works for you?  Is it important for you to be connected to nature to rest?

I have been reading Miriam Lancewood’s books about her life living completely in the wilderness of New Zealand with her partner Peter. They were interested to discover how the body would be when tuned completely to the rhythms of nature.  In the wintertime, with only natural light to live by, they slept twelve hours each night in the depths of winter and found they had bounding energy because of this. This is an example of Yin feeding Yang energy.

The task is to discover first, our own pace, and second to discover how we best rest. To do this though, we have to question the usual anxious, distracted pace at which modern life drives us to live.  Do we need to do all of those things? Which are most necessary?  Which of them feed us and support us?

Enjoy this process of discovery, and, if you like, drop into some of Miriam’s books.  She shares quite a bit of wisdom and they are thoroughly entertaining.