On Walking

Carry your body, but please do not let your body carry you! Walking in the streets, one can see people heavily following their bodies. Their heads lean forwards, pulled by their necks, on insecure legs, their feet scarcely touching the ground. It is evident that they are slaves to their bodies, following the whispering of their chattering minds.

We must walk well, as animals do.

Put the heels down first placing the feet straight in front of you. Then expand the sole of the foot, allowing it to receive the weight of the body, moving towards the toes. While the other leg moves forwards, continue to keep the back foot on the ground, so that the back of the knee remains extended and open until the last moment before lifting the foot for the next step.

This way of walking will help you re-establish order, if your body has developed bad habits.

We are always in a hurry, we run, we run, we run, in order to be able to do as many things as possible: to achieve, to become, to obtain. To run is a symptom of fear, to run after something, after somebody. We are slaves not only to others, but also to ourselves, to our ideas, to our ambitions, to our projects, and even to our mental projections. This is a miserable attitude that life does not deserve. The slave runs, but the king keeps quiet and remains still in his palace.

Quoted from Awakening the Spine by Vanda Scaravelli 1991.