Let me just start by saying I have never liked hills. I always dreaded the pain in my body, the struggle to reach the top, the exhaustion that soon followed. I never understood why people would choose to put their body through such pain… for what? To ‘conquer’ a hill? To feel like they had achieved something? To feel they could make their body do ‘incredible feats’? It all seemed such a push and drive, with a lot of pain, without much to truly gain at the end of it, except perhaps the initial high of achievement and an inflated sense of self to make up for a deep-seated lack of self-worth that is not being addressed. Climbing hills seemed to me to be clearly about ‘proving’ something.
Come many years later and I have moved to a road that has an incredibly steep, long hill. I do have the option to walk a flat road one way if I so choose.
I had been pre-warned by a neighbour to take it slow and start by only doing half to begin with. So one day I stood at the top of the hill with a view that takes your breath away, and taking the advice from my neighbour, I started my half way descent.
I knew from past hill experience that if I went into drive I would be exhausted and out of breath, so I made a conscious effort to stay with my body and feel each step. I took in the view with every breath and with every breath felt the expansion within as I opened up to feeling my connection with my environment, the world around and within me – the undeniable Oneness with God felt in every cell of my body.
In connection, one cannot help but feel every breath and part of the body as it moves.
I came to a halfway point I had noted at the beginning and turned around. Now this part would usually be my most dreaded part, but not today in this solid connection I had built with my every step on my descent. I started on my way back up, still very connected and expanded, feeling my every move. I noticed that if I stepped away from this connection and my mind would wander to some mental issue, the walk felt hard on my legs, I would lose the consistency of my step and it would become unpleasant. Bringing back the connection, my breath became steady, my body expanded, I felt the immensity that I am – not just the physical body that is walking – and I kept moving with ease.
I have now managed to walk the full length of this hill many times and every time my enjoyment increases.
I began to see how life is the same process as this hill. When we are connected within to the light of our Soul/God/the Universe, we are expanded. We feel the delicateness of our bodies; we take note of our movement. In fact, we love our movement for we are moving in tune with a far greater rhythm and not against it.
I often appreciate how this is what making love truly is. It is in our every move in synergy with the whole that we are a part of. When we are present with this movement nothing is hard, a push, or done in drive. Life becomes about movement, joy and making love. We don’t get tired, for it’s impossible to get tired from love; it’s the ultimate health pill that supports every inch of our being.
This hill has given me an incredible marker for how I can live my everyday if I make my everyday about consistency, connection and God, and wow – what an incredible life is on offer if one chooses to love hills!
By Kim Weston, NSW, a forever student of The Livingness
Further Reading:
Exercise – it doesn’t need to be hard work
Enjoying my Gentle Exercise Programme
Self-worth and self-development – does it work?
569 Comments
Kim this is such a great blog to read because it asks all of us to stop and feel how we go about our day. Well it made me stop and consider yesterday, did I walk up the hill on auto pilot or did I have any appreciation of myself or any joy in the activity. Looking back I can honestly say, I was on auto pilot the hill was very steep and my main concern was to just get up it. So I was walking completely switched off to my body. How many of us go about our day switched off from our bodies and only living from our minds?
With a hill there is an ‘up’ path and a ‘down’ path and how we move along the path offers a reflection and learning in how we move in life.
When we face an up-hill battle or way of living then we will always struggle but as you have shared Kim, life is completely different when we bring a True way of living in all we do and thus the battles of life become our Joy-fully looked forward to experiences as we are learning to deepen lives new foundations.
Reading this I had a flashback to when I lived on top of a very steep hill. I didn’t have a car at the time which meant when I went shopping I had to carry this up the hill. And for me this highlights the relationship we have with ourselves and our body/being because if I was feeling good about myself then it would be fine and if not then I would have this feeling of struggle and it being a burden. I am learning more and more, through the reflection and support of Universal Medicine, just how important our movements are in every moment.
Some people seek a comfortable life, others see value in overcoming challenges – but to me true beauty lives in the way we navigate from A to B. Instead of seeing life’s hills as a struggle, if we appreciate them as opportunities to grow and evolve we will relish any event that comes our way.
I love this Joseph … HOW we navigate from A to B rather than just getting from A to B. It is the how that is really important and if we allow it gives us an opportunity to learn, heal, grow and evolve from. To understand ourselves more and unpack and let go all that is not true.
Any journey can be a joy when your with yourself.
So exquisite to feel the absolute beauty you can sense
I have to say Kim, I have recently moved into a house with stairs and I am absolutely loving the fact I have to go up and down them many times a day! My legs have become stronger, I’ve become fitter and my mind is more clearer!
Whether we walk up a hill, complete some work or generally go about our daily tasks, doing it without push and drive really does make a difference.
Supporting the body with strength and endurance with cardio exercise is a must for vitality, and climbing hills is a great cardio work out. The body is meant to be put through it’s paces, to be worked, but not flogged to exhaustion.
I love walking and,like you, have found moving in alignment with the universe I don’t get tired. Previously I was tired at the thought of a busy day. Staying with myself and my connection to the all is what I’m learning even when it seems more and more is there because that too is just my need to have things on my terms.
I love to feel my body working and exercise is such a great way to feel how you can build a body that is strong and . ready to meet the world.
I’ve been feeling a lot of fatigue recently and yesterday it really came home to me about what energy am I choosing to run my body. But more than this. Yes I get food gives the body fuel to live but there’s so much more to us than our physical being, there’s energy and I notice when I use energy that isn’t inline with universal harmony I feel instantly fatigued. But when I’m aligned I am given all I need. This is something I’m going to observe more and really feel because feeling fatigue isn’t something I’d like to have long-term.
I love feeling my body from this gentle work out… I feel truly invigorated and more energised as a result.
To feel the immensity we are is gold, It is a marker to take into our day and from that point, expand and deepen.
I don’t have any hills near me but I do live in a flat on the 2nd floor. The stairs become my hill and being connected to myself helps hugely to not only do the walk but to enjoy it.
The spaciousness confirms the oneness that we are all a part of.
We may not walk up a hill but we walk many steps in a day. Learning to bring presence to those steps brings about a greater presence in connection to my body and hence in my day.
It doesn’t have to be only hills when it comes to body exercise. Those daily exercises many commit to, or visits to the gym, we can approach in the same way. Connect, be gentle, start slowly and respectfully bering aware of all around you and withinyou, and enjoy!
It seems to be a key to enjoying life. Because anything when done while connected can be enjoyed.
I grew up in a place that had four proper seasons and hills were an essential part of winter activities. We were not skiers, but cardboard boxes work great for sliding down snowy hills. Whatever you rode down be it snow sledges, toboggans or a box, all had to be pulled up the hill to ride down.
What a lovely description of your walking the hills with connection, ‘When we are connected within to the light of our Soul/God/the Universe, we are expanded. We feel the delicateness of our bodies; we take note of our movement. In fact, we love our movement for we are moving in tune with a far greater rhythm and not against it.’
Wow! a hill climb done in true energy will be the most glorious way to enjoy a walk as you have shared Kim. And then applying that to all our movements cements that way of living into the rest of our day.
Markers reflect how we are in our day. They support us to see and become aware of where we are at. They offer us the awareness and space to confirm and appreciate our loving choices or what needs adjusting to go deeper. Markers are needed to help us grow in the cycles of life.
I love walking up even just a slight incline as it allows me to check in with myself….am I walking with me and so adjusting my pace as I feel the rise in the surface I am walking on or is it an opportunity to bring me back as I feel myself starting to push through the extra effort it takes to ‘take on the hill’?
When I was a kid I absolutely loved rolling down hills. I loved the fact that I could never roll in a straight line and that me and my friends always ended up way off track, I loved the absolute abandon of the feeling of rolling down a hill and I loved the joy that I felt when I rolled. I loved the way that I laughed all the way down the hill and I loved the heap that I always landed in at the bottom.
The ultimate health pill, yes.
I live on a small mountain so walking most often involves coming up after going down.
Staying connected with each step and all within and around me, or not, is always what determines the quality of the experience.
I have always loved climbing hills. Yes they can be quite hard work to walk up, but if done gently and at a steady pace then the body is not stressed by the time you reach the top. And what a wonderful gift you have, of the expansive view and the feeling of vitality in the body that comes with the result of the climb. A great reflection of how life can be if we only choose to meet the challenge.
As Kim showed in this blog, it makes such a difference walking up a hill in connection with ourselves, ‘ I noticed that if I stepped away from this connection and my mind would wander to some mental issue, the walk felt hard on my legs, I would lose the consistency of my step and it would become unpleasant.’
Kim, I love how you have simplified what love is and brought it into all aspects of your life. When we are with ourselves and being the love we are than no matter what we are doing we are making love.
It is true I have noticed how much more with ease I move when I am honouring being delicate. Hills, etc. are not the thing that gets in the way…cliffs maybe!! But any stress, tension ot tiredness often comes from how I am moving not what is ahead.
When we are in connection and surrendered to being at one with the light of our Soul we are the movement of God. There is nothing in this world that can compare to this sense of atonement and the divine power which represents the volume of Heaven we say ‘yes’ to reflecting and magnifying whenever we will it. We are so much more that we think and are currently living.
Recently I’ve been feeling a fatigue that’s wiped me out. The only way I’m able to do things is by being in tune with the movement of the universe. When I’m not, and I bring force in to get things done, and I’m done for!
To move in tune to a greater rhythm and not against it, is our true purpose in life. Such movement can be mastered in seemingly small daily tasks. There is no end to the grandeur, nor any act too small to achieve this. It is done by breath alone.
In my experience, walking in conscious presence with the body in every step offers a sense of spaciousness within. To pause at the top of a hill offers the opportunity to feel the marriage of this inner spaciousness with the outer, vast expanse of space we are constantly held in. All is one in that moment.
When we move deeply connected to our body nothing in life is too difficult or hard. Our body supports us in every way when we connect and listen to its guidance.
I love the simplicity of returning to our body and simply learning to make our head be with what our body is doing. As you say we can integrate this into our lives through the simplest of movements such as brushing our teeth, typing, opening a door, doing the dishes etc etc. It is all about being presented within ourselves as we do it and thus we can choose the quality in which we do it.
“we love our movement for we are moving in tune with a far greater rhythm and not against it.” This may well be the ‘secret to life’ Kim for it is all about the quality of our movements. When we are connected we are in the flow of life, being moved by the grandness we are a part of. When we ‘do life’, are disconnected, we are determined to create our own movements, going against the one flow for that gives us a sense of delineation. The latter though is always straining and an abuse on the body and delicateness that we are.
A beautiful reflection of being with ourselves in connection to our body and moving from here allowing the magic to show itself in all its glory from within. This is a metaphor for life and how we can live it it true harmony and flow with all around us and is very inspiring.
Hills offer us great views from the top. But most importantly, they offer a training ground for us being with us while we move up and down.
I like what you say here, Kim, about life being like walking up a hill. If we are identified with struggle and resent what lies ahead we will be in contraction and misery, whereas if we stay connected and take every step with awareness of the quality of our movements, it can be an expansive and joyful experience – and we have the opportunity to appreciate the view and everything around us along the way.
I have started to once a day use the steps up to my apartment rather then the lift and its great – my legs get a work out, I get a bit fitter and its a chance to connect to me as I am doing it.
During a recent walk up a mountain, I saw a young woman making her way up the steep path. She was so beautiful, as she was so full of energy and clearly enjoying herself, and she seemed to be loving every step and had no difficulty in navigating the steep and rocky path. I could see in this woman a strength that was coming from her whole approach to life, and how she was not willing to let go of her playfulness and joy and love for people – regardless of how difficult the path of life may be.
Every part of what we see in the world is a part of ourselves we can fully love and embrace, then the world is truly ours.
There is a place for hills in every exercise routine, but it has to come from what the body needs or is ‘up for’ on a particular day. Yesterday I knew I needed to walk up my local hill in the morning, which I don’t normally do. With a sore back I wasn’t sure how I would go, but as we started the incline the ache in my back left! I am not sure why but it did reinforce how incredibly wise my body is and resting a sore part of the body is not always what is needed.
In your sharing lays the answer to not getting exhausted and hence living with true vitality.
This is such a great sharing as when we are with ourselves, totally present, we do bring our all and we are in rhythm with the all, but if we are not we go against the all, it is exhausting in itself without even climbing the hill.
When it comes to exercise we tend to trow ourselves into it without a proper building up phase. It is like we think when it hurts it is good and ‘no pain no gain’ yet when the true gold lies in the presence with our bodies, and in my experience it does, this cannot be a true way of exercising for us and we do need to lovingly build our bodies up so we can do what we need to do in our days.
True, Lieke. Expectations can be so harmful with fitness, if it means we override the body’s messages that we are pushing it too much too soon. I used to do this in the past, and it is no wonder I never enjoyed exercising until recently, since I have been able to stay more connected to what feels true in the body.
I have started to be more present and 100% about the way I live and I feel so much more joy and energy from this simple focus, I realised love is flowering through me and to do something half, half so, so, requires a lot of energy to dull it down! It’s been a reversal.
‘we love our movement for we are moving in tune with a far greater rhythm and not against it’ This is a beautiful and grand feeling and in this we no longer feel separate or isolated for being in connection with our essence we are in touch with everything and everybody and this is an absolute knowing in every cell of our being.
‘I often appreciate how this is what making love truly is. It is in our every move in synergy with the whole that we are a part of. When we are present with this movement nothing is hard, a push, or done in drive’ Very reflective and inspiring and an appreciation of the quality of our movements with the love joy and harmony that this brings us.
This blog is so simple and so wonderful. I can find myself tired and walking up an incline and then checking out into my head because of the physical strain I am feeling. But then I pause and connect, I focus on my body and breath. Do I need a longer pause? More often than not no, I feel with my movements as I move and the energy is there with me.
It’s now not just physical exhaustion that being connected prevents but all those mental thoughts that can make me feel exhausted by, ‘just at the mere thought’ of ‘having to do’. It could be a long essay, or a long meeting or journey. My reluctance to be present creates exhaustion. When I am connected measurements such as time or length disappear. What’s needed in every situation is always there if I connect and become aware.
When younger I enjoyed walking in the mountains (note not climbing) – I realised early that it was impossible to conquer these majestic peaks, but it was an opportunity to share something grand with them. The presence that comes from bringing a focus to our breath, and the step by step would keep me focussed on how I was in my body and that was the healing offered by the experience.
The perfect blog to read right now as I have just come in from walking in one of my paddocks, a very steep one and at this time of year, very muddy and slippery, so careful steps were paramount. And as I was walking up it and taking a rest every now and then, enjoying the beauty of nature all around me, I was reminded how things have changed from the days I would charge up the hill wanting to get to the top as quickly as possible and out of breath. I absolutely prefer today’s way of getting up the hill, in fact, anywhere in life.
Everything that we do not like has the opportunity to allow us to move deeper in love within ourselves, to move in the world but not be affected by it. It is a precious opportunity to encounter what we hate.
So true Adele. Often, I find with things that I dislike, I reckon there is an opportunity for me to learn. I too used to dislike walking up steep hills for the same reason as Kim but now, I know I just need to connect to my body and move deeper with love.
What I clocked reading this is that how you were on the descent, supported you on the ascent and how that can apply to so much of life. How we are during the day, can support how we sleep at night. How we breathe in, can support how we breathe out. How we are with one person, can support how we are with another. Gorgeous!
Yes an astute observation as it is so often that it is in ‘easy bits’ of life we relax our focus/connection and we loose our way.
When we are connected to God, every hill is an opportunity… and as I am currently working on my body’s fitness I get to feel the difference between being grumpy about hills and loving them.
I love that feeling of a cardiovascular workout when walking up hills… staying with my body and feeling each step as I go, is a great way to exercise and stay present in the moment.
There is something beautiful about when we are in an intimate conversation with our bodies… our breath, chest expanding, blood pumping and feeling our heartbeat, a warmth in our muscles… and of course an opportunity to feel any aches and pains, providing useful feedback as to what is really going on and where we might need some healing or to review how we are moving in life.
I’m learning to love this too Rachel, for now, I am more a hill observer! But what i do love is feel my body with each step.
When we let go of pictures or of what we’ve heard something ‘should’ be like or even how we have done something before, there is more space to connect with how do I move now in this instance. And our bodies aren’t overloaded with what has happened in the past.
It’s possible to feel the beauty of everything – not from a mental construct or ideal but from the connection of our cells. This true movement sustains our heart.
Very beautiful Joseph, I love what you’ve shared. I am learning to move my body in true movement throughout my day.
Once we let go of all the pictures our mind feeds us about everything we can approach our day in a whole new light.
Beautifully said. When I consider it, it’s crazy to prejudge the day and my ability to respond prior to it happening. When I am open the day and I will unfold beautifully. This isn’t to say there won’t be learnings because there will. Each moment is full of opportunities to learn. How difficult/challenging or not these are is how open I am to feeling the love in the fact that they are there – even painful corrections- and how surrendered I am to myself within the process.
True Kathleen, so much of how we perceive the world is through our preconceived thoughts, ideals and pictures. When we let these go, what is truly in front of us is clear to see with fresh eyes.
‘In connection, one cannot help but feel every breath and part of the body as it moves.’ And this changes everything in and outside our body, it is that simple.
This hill story reminds me of the steep stairs to my fitness club: If I walk them fully present with my body and pay only attention to my body and my breath, and don’t think, or worse, complain, these stairs are a joy to climb. Like everything in life.
I now have an extra set of stairs as I have recently converted my attic into a new bedroom. I love the exercise going up and down two flights of stairs offers.
With a new job that means I am in the car a lot, or sitting down to meetings I am far less active than I used to be. The use of hills, stairs or simply walking around a city to get from A to B is most welcome.
Every judgement or reaction we have on a bastardized version of Living, is an opportunity for us to reinprint and live it back in truth.
Landscape is something that can very easily remind us what we are here to do… that is, to not be here.
So gorgeous what you have shared Kim, I love this line ‘it’s impossible to get tired from love; it’s the ultimate health pill that supports every inch of our being.’ this is one pill that changes every part of our lives with its health giving qualities, with no nasty side effects.
A pill that comes from the inside, and not something taken from the outside to fix or make us better.
I have never liked hills even when I was young, fit and very energetic. These days I appreciate the difference though in struggling in life versus gently moving my body to keep my body vital for what is needed in life to do.
I love this blog as it is a good marker for when I walk up hills. When I am pushing/straining, I remember this blog and I connect back to myself and be super present and it is much easier!
A fellow hill walker I appreciate the connection to each breath that leaves you feeling the connection to the body and not the plight of getting up to the top of the hill. The view at the top offers the confirmation of stay in tune with the body!
Recently I have really started to enjoy walking up the stairs to our flats. Our flat is on the third floor and I usually always take the lift but lately once a day I am enjoying the time I have with me to connect with me as I walk up the stairs.
I have to say that I also appreciate stairs! I used to teach in a very large school campus, so much of the day I would be walking through the grounds and up and downs stairs for much of the day and it felt great for my body. When I transferred to a tiny village school that was all on one level I soon realised that I dropped a level of fitness. I was quite shocked to feel how out of condition I was when having to climb 2 flights of stairs recently… so I say bring on the stairs and hills!