7 Easy Steps to Clear the Stress
The Power of NOW WALKING
This fun and quirky exercise, clears, rests and refreshes your mind whilst you walk. It's great to clear your mind from one thing to the next, to clear negative emotions and thoughts too. To allow yourself to be in the NOW, not yesterday, not tomorrow but now.
Hanging onto that upset feeling?
Have you ever snapped at the wrong person, dealt with a situation badly because you were angry or upset by something or someone else? Likely that upset now belongs in the past, gone, finished but you just can't let it go? It happens to us all but what would you choose if you had a choice to lose those unhelpful emotions allowing you to deal with your now in a state of peace, calm and well-being? Every step you take is a choice to refresh and refocus your mind to peace and calm.
Walk right into the now
This 7 step counting walk shows you how to simply use your everyday walking to defocus, release negative emotions, relax your mind and refocus on the now. It also gives you an everyday way to boost your peace of mind, be open to what is happening now and is a brilliant tool to reduce stress and anxiety levels. The Walks will break that body surge of adrenaline and stop your mind and emotions feeding it, or your ‘ego thinking’ making sure you trigger your ‘under threat’ buttons, worry, worry, stress, stress. I wonder if you know what I am talking about?
7 Steps to Now
I learnt this one years ago so I’m not sure who created it but my thanks to them anyway and apologies for not asking permission to use or modify it.
First the usual safety reminders, do not Now Walk when you are in a busy, hazardous area, where you need to stay fully alert for your safety and others. Personally I use this after I finish work and am walking back to my car it helps me shut down my mind from work and allows me to focus on what I am doing now. This helps me unwind from work very quickly. I also use this Walk during the day walking from the office, to the bathroom, to the kettle or from the training room and so on.
You are counting your footsteps in groups of 7 as you walk.
Feel your feet meet the floor/ground and count each step - one and so on up to 7 steps.
Now here comes the fun bit – when you reach step 7 keep counting and start at 2 and count each step to 8 (using multiples of 7).
When you reach step 8 take the next step and start at 3 until you reach 9.
Continue counting on each step starting at the next higher number and only counting 7 steps on.
Essential Point - If at any point you get lost, confused or hesitate YOU MUST start again at 1 to 7 and then 2 to 8 and so on. Not only does this keep your mind busy and focused on walking but it also gives your mind a powerful message, it’s OK to make mistakes, I can sort it easily!
When you stop walking you will find your mind is free to focus on your ‘now’.
And that’s it, remember there is no competition in this and no judgements on how good you are at it. Forget judgements and allow yourself to become involved in the process. I haven’t managed to get past starting to count at 12 and it really doesn’t matter. As you reap the benefits from your first step, keeping your mind occupied and allowing your thoughts to go away and give you a rest! Brilliant!