The Magic of Walking in the Cold

Some of the magic of walking in the frigid temperatures comes from needing to keep my fingers warm. The best way to do that (aside from the warm mittens) is by letting my arms swing through their natural and full range of motion.

In order to allow that to happen I have to relax my shoulders. So I breathe and let my arms dangling and notice where I’m stopping the swing. Just by noticing, my shoulders begin to relax. As my arms swing wider my shoulders relax more and my range of motions gets bigger and my arms swing wider and my shoulders relax even further.

And this is where the magic happens: as my shoulders relax all the stuff; the thoughts, the ruminations, the emotions that were keeping them tight start to bubble up. And the energy that had been holding that tension in my shoulders gets pulled down to my fingers where it drops away to be absorbed by the earth.

If it ever feels like the release of charge is too much or too fast all I have to do is shift my focus to my resources; the earth under my feet supporting me, the trees willing to take the burden and release it to the wind, the birds encouraging me with their song, and Jack reminding me of all the joy there is to be had. My grip softens, the charge releases, my shoulders drop, my breathing gets fuller, and my heart opens.

My thoughts no longer hijack me into a reaction. I am able to connect with life as it is right here, right now.

And so I swing my arms.

Tosca DeVito 2/3/23

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If you are feeling stuck, wanting more connection with nature, or are curious how moving your body helps the mind-body connection, I love to take a walk with you.

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I offer one-on-one somatically-based guidance to help stressed out and anxious women calm their nervous systems, so they can get in touch with their deep body wisdom, trust their inner truth, and connect to all that they are.

Find out if you could benefit from my approach, schedule a consultation, or drop me a note and tell me what you need.