Nicholas Hedges

Art, Writing and Research

Walking Meditation 2

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Following on from my first walking meditation, I did another, again around Blenheim Park, the list from which is below.

Pheasants among the stubble
Red kit flies above them and calls above the trees
Lichen pocked trees
Mass covered stump
Vivid moss on the roots of a tree among the dead leaves of last year’s summer
Water trickling down the tarmac path
Steady patter of rain
A distant aeroplane
Birds calling high in the trees
Ducks rooting among the leaves and drinking the water as it runs down the hill
Vague tyre tracks picked out by water
Dogs barking in the distance
Sheep wool on the electric fence
Dozens of mole hills
The distant baa of a sheep
Patches of brighter sky among the otherwise grey
Two children cycle past me
The heavy breath of a jogger as she passes by
‘Private Property’
The sun getting brighter

The sky walks in the puddles beside me
The whole world drips around me
Cascades of branches
The call of a pheasant
Voices behind me
An aeroplane flies above, invisible in the clouds
An empty seat by the daffodils
‘This was her favourite walk’
Beautiful spots of lichen on the branches of a tree
Ripples from the rain upon the lake
The distant toot of the miniature train
A view of the palace between the trees
A family walk towards me
A hole in the moss
Dead branches writhe like Medusa’s head
So many shades of green on the ancient trees
The sun is quiet above the jagged tree
Fringes of stubborn leaves
The sweeping old wall
A breeze wraps itself around my face

Walking Meditation 1

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Blenheim Palace Park

I discovered this walk with my children at the weekend and so I returned today to do another walk, incorporating within that a walking meditation.

The idea of a walking meditation is to try and remain fully in the present, taking in everything that you see while not letting your mind wander. When you’re dealing with a difficult issue in your life and it’s one which seems to stop you thinking of anything else, then it’s a good way to let your mind breathe. It’s not a quick fix of course, but bit by bit, it should help reset your thoughts; especially if they are prone to going round and round a question that’s quite impossible to answer.

The list below comprises the things I noticed and chose to write down. There’s no particular reason why I chose these particular observations.

Walking meditation observations made at Blenheim Palace Park

Strong winds
Blue sky peppered with clouds
Ripples on the surface of the lake
The monument standing above the trees
Bright sun
Old dog
Dimpled mud at the edge of the grass
My shadow on the tarmac
The drone of a plane
Leaves blowing across the grass
Geese honking
A bird blows above like litter
Belly fulls of grey in the sky
Lichen on the old bridge
An old pollarded tree
Crows in the trees
A duck quacks
The trees talk
The sun reflected on the water
A bird runs from the bank
The raised roots on the path
Water gushing from a drain
Last year’s leaves still clinging on
Reeds like spears at the lake’s edge
The sun comes out and warms my face
Bright on the lake
The ground rises
Moss covered stump
Old leaves crunch beneath my feet
Beautiful birds then someone shouts up ahead
The sun returns
Shadows on the ground stretch to meet it
Suddenly warm as the wind drops
Gun shot, birds on the lake take flight
Mosquitoes in the sunlight like dust motes
Sun twinkling on the lake’s surface
Tentacled roots of a tree
Squelching underfoot
A helicopter flies past
A small waterfall gabbles as it flows
Graffiti covered tree
Brambles scribble themselves across the water’s edge
Reeds lie like logged trees in the water

Paw prints in the mud
The sky in a puddle
Beautiful colour water
Waves on the lake like a small sea
Two moorhens
Black fungus on a fallen log
A broken fence
A fallen tree on the opposite bank
The surface of the water, calm amongst the reeds, rippled without
A tree stands waiting to embrace
Two ducks with their heads in the water
Immense roots of a tree like the foot of a dinosaur
So quiet
Flies on the sheep dung
A feather in the grass
The winds picks up and blows away the siren
A small branch falls from a tree
A leaf skits across the tarmac
A pheasant runs away
I squint against the sun
Felled logs
Beautiful colours in a gap in a tree
A seat carved from an upended tree
Daffodils signalling Spring is on the way
Tyre tracks on the grass
Otherwordly trees
A fountain splashes water
Trees grow like an excess of time
Trees like creatures from the deep
The rings of an old stump
The sound of a power tool
Old leaves shiver on their branches
Slow rippled wood of the ancient oaks
A lost glove
An old wall follows the slopes
A crow flies with something in its beak
Patch of tarmac like a fossilised footprint
Ducks laugh ad planes drone
My shadow stretches before me
The call of a red kite
Jackdaws take flight

Mindful Walking I

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One of the ways in which I have helped myself during recent low points has been the practice of mindful walking, where instead of walking as the mind spins around thinking on a problem, you try and focus on what you’re experiencing now, in the present. This stops the mind racing and connects you with the moment, allowing any despair and anxiety to take a back seat for a while.

Several years ago, when I was looking at ways of connecting with the ‘nowness’ of the past, I used walking as a method, making lists of things I was experiencing in the moment such as that below.

‘The splash of car tyres on the wet road’ – I can hear the sound in my mind as I read the text; the moment from over 15 years ago suddenly very present.

Reading these lines is a great way of connecting to the past, just as the act of making the lists – of mindful walking – is a great way to reconnect to the present, and to yourself. And by connecting with yourself, to be more embodied, allows you to better empathise with those in the past.

The video below, which I made as part of a Residency in Australia, was filmed in an old lockup. At the time it was meant to represent the idea of recalled everyday moments being a means of reaching from the present in order to reconnect with the past (the present being me, walking around the confines of the cell). Watching it now, I see how it could be interpreted differently, where walking and being mindful of the present, can help one to escape the prison of one’s suffering.

© Nicholas Hedges 2024