A heartwarming sharing by Afshan Randera

Walking in stillness – Richmond Park – the penultimate walk

This was my first time coming to Walking In Stillness and my first time in Richmond Park. What a beautiful setting and what amazing company. A group of us – many of us meeting for the first time – set out from the entrance to the park, and made our way silently and meditatively towards the middle of the forest. Our focus was only on ourselves, our steps, our own movements and the quietening of our minds. After the walk, we sat down to meditate by the trees with their gorgeous autumnal colored leaves. When my opened my eyes, everything was vibrant. The green of the grass was brighter, the trees in the distance looked like rainbow colors with their varying greens, yellows and orange leaves.

After the meditation, we all spoke of our experiences. There were maybe 10 of us and our group included people of many different backgrounds – all together for the purpose of walking in stillness. We all shared in a picnic together and became fast friends. Anil and Nisha did a wonderful job of guiding of bringing us together and guiding us through the meditation. At the end of it, I did not come just away with the feeling of peace and stillness, but also with the certain knowledge that I had made friends.



Walking in stillness – Hampton Wick – the last walk

There was something bittersweet about this walk. I would never have ventured out in the December cold but it was Anil and Nisha’s last time of hosting Walking in Stillness and I needed to see my friends and walk in stillness with them one last time before their departure.

Hampton Wick park was an extraordinary location. It was a haven of peace, quiet and nature in a busy location that surrounded it. We walked in silence through the park and by a stream until we got to wide expanse of space populated with trees. Once there, we sat and meditated for almost half an hour. We were all really shocked as to how we were able to meditate for that long without flinching. It was cold, but we didn’t feel it until almost half an hour had passed. We must have been in such stillness and peace. After the meditation, Nisha guided us with a spoken meditation of the 5 elements. When she spoke, I felt transported to the past millennia she spoke of, and felt so connected to the ground and the Earth.

Having completed the meditation, we all walked together to the outside of the park and made our way to a vegan restaurant in Kingston center. As we’re in the depth of winter, we decided against picnicking and went to get some warm and hearty grub from a restaurant. The vegans in the group even got to have a special mango lassi – a treat that they had never before. And then we ended the meal with a chocolate cake and icecream – it was Nisha and Anil’s way of thanking us for coming, but it really was us who were grateful to them. Surprisingly, the part of the day I enjoyed the most was the walk back from the restaurant to our cars. We had met in the morning, and were still together in the evening. It was a gorgeous dusk and we were walking by the canals of Kingston, with the pretty boats, blue lights reflecting on the water, and swans everywhere. All of us felt we were on holiday. And that’s exactly what it was. It was a beautiful Sunday that felt like a holiday – the stillness from the morning walk stayed with us until the evening – and enveloped us with joy.