Welcome to the walking meditation.
Just as you bring awareness to your body when you're in sitting meditation,
You can do the same thing while you're moving your body,
Walking around.
So let's start by finding a space that's about 10 to 15 feet in which you can walk and move about.
You can do this inside your home,
Outside in your yard,
Or anywhere where you feel you have enough privacy and seclusion so you can be with yourself and walk in a space that's about 10 or 15 feet.
Now stand still for a moment and close your eyes if that feels good to you.
And if it doesn't feel good to close your eyes,
You can softly allow it to gaze at no particular point.
You'll want to have a soft gaze that's not hard and fixated on any particular thing.
Now begin to fill your body posture with your feet on the ground and any movement that you're naturally experiencing as you stand in place.
Just take a moment to notice your body and your breath and the physical sensations of standing just in this moment and this spot in your body.
Now gently open your eyes and begin stepping on one foot.
And as you lift your foot,
Feel the bottom of your foot losing contact with the ground.
Moving it forward,
Observe the sensation of the foot coming back into contact with the ground.
Now lift the other foot and attend to the experience of your other foot with the same awareness of the lifting and the bringing the contact back into the ground.
This is a mindfulness practice and the practice involves cultivating concentration.
So when your mind wanders,
Just bring it back to noticing the sensation of your feet and the ground.
Now begin to walk 10 or 15 feet mindfully about your space,
Noticing each step as you lift,
Every muscle of your foot as it moves and makes contact onto the ground again.
And you can mindfully turn when you need to turn.
And as you're turning,
Notice how your hips and your legs and your torso adjust to turn the body in the direction in which you're turning.
And be mindful to walk slowly,
Taking a step about every three or four seconds.
Now you can start to incorporate a verbal cue or a mantra or saying as you make your movements.
So as you lift the foot,
You can think or say out loud lift.
And as you move your foot forward,
You can think or say out loud move.
And as you place your foot down,
You can say or think the word place.
And go ahead and do this for a few more moments as you walk about in your space.
And continue to practice as long as it feels good to you.
And when you're ready to complete your practice,
Go ahead and stand again and notice the sensation of your body standing in stillness.
Notice how your body feels now after the practice.
See if there's any changes in your sensation,
Both in the energy running through your body as well as those physical sensations that you notice the first time that you were mindful of standing still.
And as you move about your day,
You can choose at any moment in any time to bring this mindfulness practice into your walking.
So as you're moving through your day,
You can take a moment and choose mindful walking,
Thinking those phrases,
Lift,
Move and place,
And being fully aware of the muscles and the movements of your body as you walk.
And thank yourself for doing these practices that bring greater peace and stillness in your body and your emotions and thus creating greater peace and stillness in the world around you.
Have a beautiful day or a beautiful sleep and many,
Many blessings to you.
