Mindful Steps: A Walking Meditation

Join me on a journey where every step is a meditation. Whether you're strolling through city streets, wandering in a forest, or walking along the beach, this guided session helps you bring full awareness to your body's movements and your surroundings. Feel the ground beneath your feet, notice the rhythm of your breath, and engage all your senses to truly experience the present moment. Let's walk together and discover the beauty of mindfulness in motion.

Transcript

Come for a walk with me.

It doesn't matter what kind of walk it is,

Whether it's on the streets or in a forest,

On a beach or somewhere in between.

The main thing is that this meditation is not one where you sit and try to keep as still as you can and just focus on your breath.

This is a different kind of meditation.

Walking is great for your body and when you become aware of how your body moves while walking,

That brings the awareness which is meditation.

So let's start wherever you are in the world,

Wherever your walk is,

Let's walk together.

Let's start by noticing how you currently walk.

Do you put your feet flat on the floor as you're walking?

Do you have a bounce with each step?

Just notice.

There's no right or wrong way of walking or doing anything in life.

It is whatever it is for you.

So noticing how you're walking at the moment.

Which muscles are working?

Do you walk fast?

Do you walk slowly or somewhere in between?

Just notice.

So let's slow things right down now just for a little minute and I just want you to focus on your feet touching the ground.

Putting your heels down first and rolling through the arches of your foot onto the ball of the foot and into the toes.

Just feel how different that is to what you maybe do automatically.

Just being aware of your heel going down and moving through the foot onto the ball of the foot and onto the toes.

And both of your feet are doing this now.

One at the front and one at the back.

Both rolling through your foot in a gentle calm way.

All the muscles in your feet are working together.

There's less pressure in your feet as you roll through them instead of just kind of stamping down on your feet.

If this feels comfortable for you,

Carry on doing it.

Or if you'd like it to feel comfortable,

If you'd like it to be your normal way of walking,

Just practice it.

Carry on doing it.

Being aware is what it's all about.

The more you do it,

The easier it becomes.

Are you looking down at your feet or are you able to trust where you're walking?

Feel comfortable knowing that your feet have got it all under control.

How is your balance as you're moving from your heels to your toes?

It might feel a little different or it might feel absolutely normal.

Everything is okay,

Just as it is.

Whatever works for you.

If you can bring your gaze back up so that you're looking in front of you and not too much down at your feet,

This allows you to take in everything around you,

The whole of your environment.

Move your awareness now from your feet into your calves.

Just try and work out which muscles in your calves are propelling you forward,

Together with your knees and your thighs and your hips.

Become aware of all the mechanism that is working together to move you forward.

Does it feel comfortable?

Are there any niggles?

Just notice.

What are your arms doing?

Are they at the side of your body or are they moving as well in rhythm with your feet and legs?

Are you holding something?

Just notice.

Just be aware.

And while you've been observing and being aware with how your mind is moving,

Have any thoughts come into your mind?

Thoughts other than focusing on your feet and your legs.

Just notice.

So wherever you are in the world,

This is your walk.

This walk is for you to feel with all of your senses.

Be aware of where you are.

Be aware of the ground beneath your feet.

Is it hard or is it soft?

Is it even or is it undulated?

Are you walking uphill or downhill or on even ground?

Just be aware of your breath now.

Is it steady or a little bit difficult to breathe consistently?

If you can,

Breathe through your nose.

Inhaling through your nose is a filtering system,

So inhaling through your nose is like filtering the air that enters your system.

It also gives you more nitric oxide to help with your movements.

Filling your body with wonderful fresh air coming in,

Entering your bloodstream,

Helping every organ in your body to work efficiently,

Helping your heart.

Walking is fantastic for your heart.

A nice gentle or energetic walk doesn't put too much pressure on your heart or other organs.

So let's move away from our focus on our bodies for a moment.

Your body is amazing and it will carry on working and walking perfectly,

As you know,

Without your awareness focusing on it.

So we're now going to focus on what you can see,

What you can sense with your sight.

Our eyes can notice many,

Many things,

But only what we put our focus on at any given time.

We can see into the distance and often when we are looking into the distance,

We're not seeing what's in front of us and vice versa.

Let's focus right now on what you can see immediately in front of you.

Have you seen these things before or is this the first time that you're actually noticing something?

These walks that we're going on were all in different places,

So you might be seeing beautiful trees.

Right now I'm seeing wonderful blackberry bushes budding out,

They're brilliant blackberries,

Almost ripe.

They just need a couple more weeks in the sunshine.

You might be noticing wonderful sand that you're walking along or the sea or traffic,

Cars,

Buses,

Lorries.

Whatever it is for you,

Just notice them,

Being aware of them.

What can you see in the distance?

Is it much the same or can you see something else?

Our eyes are fantastic,

So clever once we focus in on something that we can see it properly for what it is.

Things that we may take for granted without actually realising that they're there.

Maybe a building that you've not noticed before or maybe a tree that you've just not seen before or a gate or entrance that you've never seen before.

A different kind of flower that you've never noticed.

The beauty about this is that you will probably have seen it before but you won't have seen it before,

It won't have registered.

But by putting your focus on it,

It's now in your repertoire,

If you like.

Now that you've noticed it,

You'll be seeing more of it.

That's just how it works.

So let's move on to another sense now.

Our feeling is a sense.

We can feel with our fingers but also with our skin,

On our arms and on our legs,

On our face.

Right now I'm feeling the gentle breeze which is a cooling breeze,

A refreshing breeze.

Put your focus on what you're feeling right now.

You could be feeling rain on your face.

You might be feeling the heat of the sunshine on your skin.

You might be all wrapped up because it's cold and you need to keep your body warm.

Just feel whatever it is for you in this moment.

Now let's move on to our smell.

What can you smell?

Is it a nice scent of flowers or grass or trees?

At the moment of making this recording I can smell magnolia from the trees that I'm passing on my walk.

The smell reaches me meters before I actually come upon that tree.

The lovely fresh smell that I love.

Someone else might not like that smell.

We're all different and unique in what we like and what we can,

What we don't like.

What we can smell and what we can't smell.

You might be smelling diesel fumes from cars.

You may be smelling grass or the sea,

Fish or seaweed.

Just notice,

Be aware.

You may be smelling a freshly ploughed field or a freshly manured field.

That can be a bit challenging.

Sometimes when you're walking in the country,

Countryside.

Aren't we clever beings,

Able to pick up on all these different scents?

So let's move on now to our taste.

You probably think that you won't be able to taste anything on a walk unless you take something with you.

But even as I'm speaking I can taste the air.

It's not got a very strong flavour but it's there on my taste buds as I'm talking.

You might be walking in the rain and you can put your tongue out and taste the rain.

You may be coming across some raspberries or blackberries that are ripe and that you can pick and taste.

Or you may have taken some water with you and you can taste that freshness in your mouth as you drink.

So let's move on to our hearing.

What can you hear right now?

I have lots and lots of birds on my walk and I've put that as a bit of a backing track simply because I love birds singing and I hope you do too.

So you might have double birdsong right now.

I can also hear the wind because that breeze that I felt earlier has picked up a little and it's now really blowing quite strongly.

I can hear it in my ears.

I can also hear my footsteps on the gravel paths that I'm walking on which is reminding me am I still walking with my heel through to my toes or have I gone back to how I used to walk before?

My normal walking without my awareness on it.

It's fascinating how we can shift our awareness just like that.

So what else can you hear?

The sound of waves if you're at the seaside.

Can you hear laughter?

Can you hear traffic?

Can you hear talking?

Can you hear the rustle of the trees?

What is it that you can hear?

Whilst we're using each sense,

Our other senses are still working at the same time enhancing things.

So you might see a beautiful flower and smell that beautiful flower at the same time and that makes you feel something.

A feeling other than what's on your skin.

An emotion.

So just be aware of those.

Our emotions are very important to feel as we're walking too.

Our emotions need to be felt wherever they are,

Whenever they need to come out.

There is nowhere they should be able to be hidden.

They should be allowed to surface and be looked at,

Felt and let go of or dealt with in a different way.

Whatever way is needed for you right now,

In this moment.

How are you feeling on this walk as we've used our awareness and our senses together?

Do you feel relaxed as you're walking?

Just noticing.

This walking meditation has just guided you into a full awareness of yourself and your surroundings.

And when we become aware of what we're thinking,

What we're doing,

How we're moving,

What's around us,

Just taking it all in with our senses,

It helps us to be in the present moment.

Which is all we have,

The present moment.

To enjoy the pleasure of being alive.

And this is why we're here,

To enjoy and experience.

Having that full awareness as we do it,

Allows it to just get better and better.

Do you have a smile on your face right now?

Releasing all those feel-good chemicals into your body,

As well as that wonderful oxygen that you're taking in.

Helping your body,

Helping your mind,

Helping your spirit,

All to work together in harmony.

I hope you've enjoyed our walk together and I look forward to walking with you again.

Until then,

Enjoy this wonderful life that we have,

With your awareness.