Have you ever tried walking in a straight line with your eyes closed? It sounds simple enough, right? Just put one foot in front of the other, maintain your balance, and keep moving forward. Over the last couple of months I have been walking like this on the roads around the corn fields near our house. I really don’t know what made me start doing this, it just came into my head one day and, of course, I thought this will be easy. Spoiler alert - it’s not!
As soon as you shut your eyes, the world around you shifts dramatically. Suddenly, every little wobble feels magnified, and the straight path you envisioned becomes a winding adventure filled with unexpected detours. Every step feels like it is a simple forward step, but in reality you veer off on different angles, sometimes to the right, sometimes to the left. Each attempt starts optimistically - “Today I’m going to close my eyes and walk 20 steps.” Yes, I said 20 steps, sounds ridiculously easy, doesn’t it? But I’m usually in the ditch by the twelfth step!
Interestingly, this experience mirrors another journey I have often embarked on: the pursuit of consistency in our meditation practice. One day this idea came to me, as I restarted my fifth and then sixth attempt to reach 20 steps. Both endeavours require focus, awareness, and a willingness to embrace uncertainty. Let’s dive into this delightful analogy and explore how walking blindfolded can teach us valuable lessons about maintaining a steady meditation routine.
The Challenge of Perception
When you walk with your eyes closed, your other senses kick into overdrive. You become acutely aware of the ground beneath your feet, the air against your skin, and even the subtle sounds around you. The camber of the road, that slight slope, each pebble are accentuated. I walk with walking sticks, so I hear them click on the tarmac, until it becomes the soft thud of the grassy ditch. This heightened awareness is similar to what we experience when we sit down to meditate.
In meditation, we often close our eyes to shut out external distractions and turn our focus inward. Initially, this can feel disorienting. Just as you might stumble or veer off course while walking blindfolded, your mind may wander during meditation. Thoughts flit by like butterflies or crash in like bulldozers—some beautiful and intriguing, others pesky and distracting. Sounds suddenly become interesting trains of thought. The neighbour’s dog barking takes you back to your childhood pet or the doubt of ‘maybe we should have given the kids a pet - would they be different people now, if we had?’ In meditation, bringing our minds back into the practice can unveil new insights about ourselves—our thoughts, emotions, and even our reactions to stressors in life.
Embracing Discomfort
Walking in a straight line without sight is uncomfortable. You might feel vulnerable or anxious about where you're going. At the start I kept envisioning myself falling down the drainage channels alongside the road and breaking my ankle - a bit extreme I know. Similarly, meditation can bring up uncomfortable feelings or thoughts that we often avoid in our busy lives. Maybe thoughts like, if I step off this path, this career, this relationship I have been in for so long, what would happen to me? Would my world crash and burn?
Both experiences teach us about discomfort and how to navigate it. When walking blindfolded, it’s essential to stay calm and trust your instincts and your intuition. Likewise, in meditation, acknowledging discomfort without judgment allows us to cultivate a deeper awareness of our thoughts and feelings.
Finding Balance
As you attempt to walk straight with your eyes closed, balance becomes crucial. You might sway from side to side, but with each adjustment, you learn more about your body’s centre of gravity. This process of recalibrating is akin to finding balance in meditation. After several failed attempts of focusing on my foot placement, I decided instead to bring my attention to what was happening in my core. I contracted my ab muscles and was pleasantly surprised when my step count crept up to 50!
In meditation practice, we strive for mental equilibrium amidst the chaos of our thoughts. Just as you might need to take small steps or adjust your posture or be aware of your core while walking blindfolded, in meditation, we learn to gently guide our focus back when distractions arise. It’s all about finding that center point—whether in movement or stillness. In meditation, our connection with our bodies deepens through mindfulness practices that encourage awareness of bodily sensations—your breath flowing in and out or tension residing in certain areas. This heightened awareness fosters self-acceptance and compassion for ourselves as we navigate life’s challenges.
The Importance of Consistency
Now let’s talk about consistency—a key element in both walking straight and meditating regularly. When you first try walking blindfolded, it may feel awkward and unsteady; however, with practice, you begin to develop muscle memory and confidence in your movements.
The same principle applies to meditation. Establishing a consistent practice helps reinforce the habit over time. Initially, it might feel challenging to sit still for even five minutes without getting distracted or restless. But just as with walking straight while blindfolded, the more you practice, the more natural it becomes.
Learning from Setbacks
Inevitably, when you walk with your eyes closed, you'll stumble or veer off course. It’s part of the experience! Instead of getting frustrated or giving up entirely, each misstep provides an opportunity for learning and growth. Initially, each time my walking stick hit the grassy verge I would open up my eyes and step back into the path. Then gradually over time, I learnt that I don’t need to open my eyes. I can readjust my position with my eyes closed and focusing on what my senses are telling me.
In meditation too, setbacks are common—days when your mind feels particularly noisy or when you struggle to find stillness. Rather than viewing these moments as failures, consider them part of your journey. Each time you return to your breath after being distracted is a victory in itself!
Cultivating Patience
Walking straight with closed eyes requires patience—both with yourself and the process. You won’t master it overnight; it takes time to develop that inner compass that guides you forward without sight. I’ve now been walking with my eyes closed for over 2 months and most days I manage a dozen steps, but one day I managed over a hundred! So now I know I can do it, but I also know I need to be patient and keep practising.
Meditation is much the same way! It’s easy to become impatient with ourselves if we don’t see immediate results or if we feel like we’re not “doing it right.” However, cultivating patience allows us to appreciate the journey rather than fixating on an endpoint.
Embrace the Journey
So there you have it! The next time you find yourself attempting to walk in a straight line with your eyes closed—or sitting down for a meditation session—remember that both experiences are rich with lessons about awareness, balance, consistency, patience, and connection.
Embrace the wobbles and missteps; they’re all part of the journey! Whether you're honing your physical balance or cultivating mental clarity, each step—however crooked—brings you closer to understanding yourself better.
So go ahead! Close those eyes (figuratively speaking) and take that first step into both practices with an open heart and mind. After all, life is less about perfection and more about enjoying every twist and turn along the way!
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