Welcome to Mindful Walking by Mary Bloomfield.
Walking meditation promote awareness and calm.
The aim is to use the movement of walking to cultivate mindfulness and wakeful presence by narrowing and then opening our point of focus.
You can practice this anytime,
When you're feeling relaxed or when you feel agitated or stressed.
At home or at work,
During your lunch hour or at the end of the day.
You can practice it in a formal and informal way such as when you walk from one room to another,
When you go shopping or when you walk down the street or to and from your car.
And you can apply this kind of mindfulness of movement also to other activities such as biking or at the gym,
When you are exercising.
Whatever activity you engage in,
You can stop and remind yourself to be aware of how your body is moving in the moment,
Appreciating what your body can do for you.
You can mindfully walk anywhere,
A hallway or a lounge room is good,
But also outdoor,
In a park,
A garden or in the street.
Choose a quiet place initially where you can walk mindfully for 10 minutes or more.
Start by standing,
Gently stating your intention to yourself to walk mindfully.
First,
Softening your body,
Softening your face,
Finding an inner smile,
Becoming more aware of your breath,
Breathing out a long exhale,
Maybe belly breathing for 3 breaths.
And then breathing normally,
Finding your own rhythm,
Breathing easily,
Effortlessly.
And then becoming aware of your body,
Standing up,
Becoming more conscious of your feet touching the ground,
Feeling the sole of your feet and the point of contact with the ground.
Slowly rocking forward and back.
And as you do,
Notice how the point of pressure under your feet changes.
And then moving sideways,
From side to side,
Again noticing how the point of pressure under your feet changes as you move sideways.
Then moving in small circles,
Making little circles with the knees,
Again feeling the soles of your feet,
How the point of pressure changes under your feet.
Standing still,
Finding your point of balance.
And gently looking down towards the floor,
Being aware of your feet,
Into the action of walking.
Starting by slowly shifting your weight,
Lifting your right foot and placing it in front of the left foot,
And then touching the ground.
Then again moving your left foot,
Slowly notice how you shift your weight,
How you change your balance as you move your left foot forward,
Observing how your foot touches the ground,
And noticing the point of contacts with the ground,
The point of pressures.
And again,
Shift the weight from one leg to balance,
Lift the right foot up and then move it forward,
And then place it back on the ground.
And paying attention to the sensation as your foot touches the ground,
The heel,
The ball of the foot,
The toes,
And notice how the body moves as you walk,
Your arms maybe swinging a little,
Back and forth,
Knee bending,
Walking with awareness,
One step at a time.
To be aware of how your feet make contact with the ground with each step,
Which part of your foot leaves the ground last at the end of each step,
Which part touch the ground first at the beginning of each step.
Notice the pivoting of your ankle as you take a step,
Feel the bend in your knee as you walk.
Make another step forward and become aware of the movement in your legs,
In your knees and hips.
Notice the changes in balance as you move.
And when you touch the ground,
Being aware of the point of contacts with the ground,
And then moving again,
Your other foot forward,
Being aware of the sensation under your foot,
Staying with the sensation of your foot touching the ground each time you take a step.
This can be your point of focus,
Bringing your mind again and again to the sensations under your feet,
And moving in this way intentionally with awareness.
Initially you move slowly,
But in time you can move at your normal pace,
Being aware each time your feet touch the ground,
The point of contact with the ground,
Which is your point of focus,
Which is your anchor.
Bring your mind back again and again to the awareness of your feet each time they touch the ground.
At times your mind will wander,
Totally normal.
This is what minds do.
As you notice that your mind has wandered,
Gently bring it back to your point of focus,
Which is next time your foot touch the ground.
Doing this on your own for a while,
Being present to yourself,
Being aware each time your foot touch the ground,
And the sensation under your foot.
And if your mind wanders,
That's okay,
Bring your mind back to the awareness of your foot touching the ground,
And begin again,
Being aware of this foot touching the ground,
Of this step,
And then this one.
Then you can choose with intention to open your awareness to your surroundings,
Using your senses.
Opening your senses to see and feel your surrounding,
One sensation at a time.
Spending a few seconds exploring your surrounding with each one.
What do you see?
What do you hear?
What can you smell?
Can you feel a breeze on your skin?
Some coolness,
Some warmth.
Can you feel the clothes on your skin as you're moving?
And then can you choose to bring your attention back to focus on the body,
Letting it be just as it is,
Observing,
Being aware,
Allowing.
And then coming back to the awareness of your footstep,
One step at a time,
The sensations under your foot,
The point of contact,
The changing point of pressure as you move.
To practice being in the present,
One step at a time.
If your mind is really busy and keeps on wandering,
Then maybe you can say right as you move your right foot and left as you move your left foot.
Saying right,
Left,
Right,
Left.
As you move,
Still being aware of the movement and the point of contact as you touch the ground.
Then again,
You can intentionally expand your awareness to what is around you,
Expanding your point of focus.
Again,
Being aware of your senses.
What do you see?
What do you smell?
What do you hear?
What do you feel on your skin?
Appreciating the beauty around you.
Appreciating what is there.
Appreciating being able to move,
To explore,
To savour,
To delight.
Opening your awareness to what is around you.
Noticing whatever is there.
Being present to what is there around you.
And during your walk,
You can take a moment to notice your body with loving awareness.
Being aware of your feet,
Of your legs,
Your knees,
Hips,
Back,
Chest,
Arms,
Hands,
Fingers,
Shoulders,
Neck,
Head,
With loving awareness.
Especially if there's a part of your body that is hurting at times.
Holding that part of your body with acceptance,
With compassion.
Softening that part of your body in your mind when it hurts.
Breathing in to that part of your body,
And out of that part of your body.
At the end of the walk,
Thank yourself for taking the time to be present and aware.
Maybe being again conscious of an inner smile.
And then starting again your daily activities with greater sense of ease.
