Sometimes I find myself looking at the ground when I walk – fast and three feet in front of me. Of course I need to be aware if the ground is uneven, but it seems that it has just become a habit. I had a ballroom dance teacher who, with one arm wrapped around my waist and the other guiding me into a spin, noticed this and said, “You go where you look. If you look at the ground, you are going down!”
It was a scorching hot, summer day when I drudged up the steps to my Pilates lesson. I got to the top and plopped down onto the bench grunting, “Boy, it is HOT out there!”
“Take a minute to compose yourself,” my teacher kindly said, “then go back down the stairs and come up the right way. It’s bad for your organs to compress them by stomping up the steps. Let an imaginary thread lift you from the top of your head.”
Thankfully we only walked down a few steps to practice ascending the right way together.
I got the message, and here it is.
Up, up, up with your eyes and your body and Spirit will gratefully follow.
