Hello and welcome.
My name is Anaya Crow and this is a walking meditation inspired by the Buddhist monks walk for peace.
I invite you to take this with you on your favorite route through your neighborhood or local park.
And let's walk together.
As you step onto the path,
You take in the external stimuli around you.
Noticing sights,
Sounds,
Smells,
The temperature of the air on your skin.
Allow your attention to move from one thing to another,
Observing with curiosity.
As you continue to notice the world around you,
Become aware of how your body responds to your environment.
Observing sensations of tension and ease,
Heaviness and lightness,
The rhythm of your heartbeat,
The flow of your breath,
And any other sensation that makes itself known.
Our bodies respond to our environment,
But we can also learn to shift the body's response when needed,
And even learn to shift our environment through conscious effort,
Beginning in our thoughts and our emotions,
And supported by our breath.
Continuing along the path,
I invite you to notice thoughts about your environment.
How would you describe those thoughts?
Would you classify your thoughts as positive or negative?
Allow your attention to shift to something in your environment that brings up negative thoughts and feelings.
Start to become curious about this negativity,
Asking yourself questions.
What is it about this that causes me to think or feel this way?
Where does it come from?
When did it start?
Are these thoughts subjective or objective?
Can I shift these thoughts and feelings to neutral,
Allowing myself to release old judgments and invite in new curiosity?
Can I create a new experience between myself and this environment?
And if I can shift to neutral,
Can I continue to shift into positive by inviting compassion?
Can I seek to understand from a new perspective?
We learn to shift from negative to neutral to positive by letting go of old stories.
We find the pause between stimuli and response,
Giving ourselves space to breathe,
Giving ourselves space to feel and respond with new information.
As we practice this shift from negative to neutral to positive through the practices of observation,
Awareness,
Curiosity,
And compassion,
We create the space to invite peace into our hearts.
This allows us to extend peace to others through our daily actions.
When confronted with negativity,
Whether our own or someone else's,
We know how to ask questions that distance us from criticism and move us towards compassion for ourselves and others.
I now invite you to notice thoughts about something else in your environment.
How would you describe these thoughts?
Notice the emotion attached to these thoughts.
Would you classify your thoughts as positive or negative?
Start to become curious about these thoughts.
Allow yourself to feel the emotion that rises with these thoughts.
Again,
Asking,
What is it about this that causes me to think or feel this way?
Where did it come from?
When did it start?
Are these thoughts subjective or objective?
And can I again shift these thoughts and feelings to neutral,
Allowing the release of old judgments and inviting new curiosity?
And if we can shift to neutral,
Can we again continue to shift into positive by inviting compassion,
Understanding from a new perspective?
Compassionate curiosity creates peace because it gives us space to understand and act with love instead of fear.
Curiosity is what allows us to learn,
To try new things,
To see new things.
It's what allows us to grow and change.
Curiosity is the place of imagination and play.
It allows us to move through the world a little more lighthearted.
Curiosity allows us to see others and the world in a softer light.
And I invite you to ask yourself,
How can I extend peace to someone else today?
Remaining open to opportunities that present themselves,
No matter how big or small.
How can I extend peace to someone else today?
Maybe it's as simple as a smile,
A hug.
As you continue to walk and move through your day,
Invite in more moments of curiosity,
More moments of observation,
More moments of compassion.
Each of these moments guiding you in your own walk for peace,
This and every day.
Thank you for sharing your walk with me.
Shanti,
Shanti,
Shanti,
Meaning peace,
Peace,
Peace.
Copyright © 2020,
New Thinking Allowed Foundation
