We never told you to slow down. Rosemary said if you want to, you can slow down in the walking but she just says to start with a normal speed, if you feel like slowing down, fine. When we talk about special mindfulness activities, and for those of you who have been to Wat Kow Tahm when I explain working meditation I often say you can slow down, it is a chance to slow down in order to focus a bit better, but we still need to know how to do it at a normal speed. All of you have heard the story Rosemary tells on Day 10 about our friend who got fired because he was opening and closing the gates at a car ferry too slowly.
We absolutely do want to be able to have awareness when we are doing something at a normal speed, and look like an average person in that way. When you see me walk around the place, I don't walk slowly, I walk at a normal speed, but it is quite possible my awareness while walking is as good or better than many people here in this retreat. This is because I have trained myself over and over and over to be able to do things slowly and at the same time to be very focused on the activity. If you train yourself in this way while moving slowly you will hopefully also be able to stay more focused and aware even when you are doing things at a more normal speed.