When I was a young girl my father and I would explore the foothills of California. He often gently reminded me to “walk like an indian.” I knew instinctively what he meant. I should walk gently, feeling the earth beneath me by making every step a conscious act. Thich Nhat Hanh,  an internationally famous Buddhist monk and peace activist also teaches conscious walking as a form of meditation.

Somewhere along my adulthood I forgot this pearl of wisdom. Even as a dancer my focus was extension as I reached for the ethers or the collective around me. Until recently I rarely thought about what lie beneath me. It was the teachings of Aletia Alvarez from the Madrona MindBody Institute that reminded me to focus downward. She began her class by identifying the tripod on the sole of the feet. The two opposite points on either side of the ball of the foot and the heel. She had us practice walking as if the earth were a sponge. She cultivated a sensitivity in our step that reminded me of the indian walk my father and I practiced. The effect for me was profound. We are made from the earth and there is a molten fiery energy we can draw from. It gives us power and grounds our actions.

How would the world be different if we all walked more gently on the earth or listened more deeply? I know I will try to do both in my life and in my dance.