Mindfulness doesn’t necessarily demand stationary arrest. Local author Jonathon Stalls proves just that in his creative nonfiction book, “WALK: Slow Down, Wake Up and Connect at 1-3 Miles per Hour.” This collection of essays surveys Stalls’ 242-day walk across the country with his husky, rich with spiritual awakenings and newfound wisdom.

“On my walk, I learned there is so much good out there that many of us don’t see all the time,” Stalls said. “I wanted to find a way to share that with others.”

Stalls’ cross-country walk was in 2010, but the book didn’t come to fruition until last fall after many years of putting the pieces together. In the meantime, Stalls started Walk2Connect, a collaborative community of people who host group walks to connect with others and with nature. He went on to work with Pedestrian Dignity, a project designed to educate and build awareness around the community of people who navigate their spaces as pedestrians (on foot, a wheelchair, etc.).

An excerpt from “WALK” regarding Pedestrian Dignity reads, “As developers, decision-makers, and the greater public continue designing, approving, and building common places — home, work, school, social centers, and health clinics — that are dependent on the automobile and hostile to all other forms of transportation, we face devastating gaps around how our bodies, minds, emotions, social fabric, and spirits were made to move, connect, and evolve.”

Walking is more than just a physical movement to Stalls. It’s a spiritual practice of engaging with the environment and with others.

“When you’re moving with people, there is so much room to move ideas, to move with each others’ stories, and to both co-exist and co-create with others,” Stalls said. “It’s just a little harder to be able to fully listen and be open to someone else’s stories or ideas when we’re in a more static position.”

Stalls’ philosophy harps on the importance of walking and movement for people emotionally and physically.

“There’s something so profound about knowing people — all physically moving forward — under a big open sky with better air and surrounded by nature,” Stalls said. “There is so much science related to what happens in the brain after 20 minutes of walking or moving in an unhurried way. We’re making room to be more creative and to open our brains for de-stressing.”

“WALK” is full of essays, input from fellow pedestrians, personal anecdotes, Stalls’ art, and applicable practices for readers. The book presents his personal experiences and offers integrative practices for readers to incorporate in their own life. The sequence of chapters even mimics American psychologist Abraham Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs,” a theory that maps out the categories of influence over an individual’s behavior.

“Chapter one is ‘walking as human dignity,’ the second is ‘walking as humility,’ the third is ‘walking as a human right,’ and so on,” Stalls said. “The chapters are structured around basic dignity and basic joy. For a lot of people, walking is not joyful. It’s unsafe, disconnected, it sucks! So, I try to present it in a different light, and a necessary one.”

On Saturday, Stalls will be hosting a book talk at the Tattered Cover Book Store downtown. At 5 p.m., he’ll lead an optional walk around the local area for about 40-50 minutes before his 6 p.m. discussion to demonstrate some of his principles in real time for readers.

“I try to not only give an overview of the book, but to say why I am so passionate about this work,” Stalls said. “This isn’t just a book. It’s a tool. It’s an expression of my life and my lifelong work. Once I get to know the people in the group, I’ll discern which stories to read.”