Photo: Superior Hiking Trail, Minnesota October 2025
The trail underfoot is carpeted with fallen leaves: amber, gold, copper and cinnamon. I stroll between stands of red pine, jack pine, balsam fir, white spruce, aspen, maple, oak and the occasional magnificent white pine. Above me, branches arch like the ceiling of a cathedral illustrated with gold leaves and patches of cobalt blue sky. A soft breeze rustles the leaves. The air is heavy with the smell of decaying vegetation. I love that smell… winter is coming.
It is early October 2025 on the Superior Hiking Trail in Northern Minnesota. Two hours on the trail starting at 7:30 am and I have yet to see another person. Left behind is my overactive brain, focusing instead on the present moment: the sights, sounds and smells of the forest. This is walking meditation.
The late Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh emphasized the practice of mindful walking to deepen our body’s connection with the earth. I try meditating. I struggle. Yet somehow, when out walking or hiking, I can connect my mind with nature and achieve a degree of serenity and maybe, a modicum of enlightenment. I have written previously about mindfulness. See my article: Mindful Movement: Moving in the Present. This article is more specifically about the benefits of walking meditation.
Photo: fall colors on the Superior Hiking Trail, October 2025
Uniting Body and Mind
Thich Nhat Hanh says, “We can train ourselves to walk with reverence. Each mindful breath, each mindful step, reminds us we are on this beautiful planet.”
Despite repeated injuries, surgeries, and the pain of being an aging athlete, I am in great physical shape. This is the product disciplined nutrition and exercise. My mind… not so good. My brain is frequently a three-ring circus of negative thoughts: fear, doubt, self-pity, anger, regret and resentment. I am working on enlightenment, but I’m a slow learner.
Thich Nhat Hanh writes, “We can’t be grounded in our body if our mind is somewhere else. Walking meditation makes us whole again. Only when we are connected with our body are we truly alive, Healing is not possible without that connection. Walking meditation unites our body and our mind. We combine breathing with our steps. Our breathing has the function of helping our body and mind to calm down.” Exactly what I need. I find harmony and serenity moving in nature.
Raven Rock
After four miles and two hours, I break free of the forest and ascend a rock dome known as Raven Rock. The outcrop is anorthosite, a Precambrian igneous rock. Over a billion years ago the rocks of Northern Minnesota split apart forming a midcontinent rift zone. Magma rose through the weakness created by the rift forming layers of igneous rocks called the Duluth Complex. I sit and run my hands over the ancient coarse grained rock. In places, the rock is smooth with faint striations created by slow moving, mammoth continental glaciers 20,000 years ago. Basking in the warm sun, I am connected with the Earth.
Photo: Lake Superior from Raven Rock, October 2025
The bald summit of Raven Rock is surrounded by hills blanketed by coniferous and hardwood forests radiant with fall colors. This is a unique biome: the climate, tempered by Lake Superior, creates a narrow strip of highland forest combining the southern deciduous forest and the northern boreal forest. For 360 degrees there is no evidence of humanity; no roads, buildings or people. Five miles to the south, light shoots forth from the waters of Lake Superior. Twenty miles further, is the faint outline of the Wisconsin shore. A raven flies overhead, wings stretched, riding a thermal of air rising from the sun warmed rock. For 45 minutes I am alone enjoying the serenity and solitude of the moment.
Photo: Raven Rock Anorthosite, October 2025
Conclusion
To practice mindful walking, turn off your phone and put away your ear pods. Focus on your breathing and pace. Feel your feet as you walk and be aware of your balance and body position. Look around, smell the air, hear the birds and the wind, touch a branch or a rock. Most importantly, don’t forget to smile.
After I left Raven Rock and headed back to my car, I pass a few hikers heading up the trail. When I reach the Baptism River, I look down upon a crowd of fifty at the base of the high falls (one of the highest falls in Minnesota). In the last mile and a half to the parking lot I pass over a hundred hikers. It doesn’t matter… I am at peace, smiling as I pass my fellow pilgrims.
“This we know: the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.”
Chief Seattle, 1854
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Photo: Baptism Falls before the crowds, October 2025
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