Walking Meditation: 30 Day Yoga Challenge Day 21

You don't even need your mat for this one! Step outside if you can (barefoot is best) and connect to your body, the earth, and your surroundings with this walking meditation. I wanted to record this outside, but unfortunately, at the time of recording, the air quality index was a 10 from the wildfire smoke in the area. So, although I am inside on my mat, you don't need to be!

Transcript

Hey everyone, Welcome to Day 21 of our 30 Day Yoga Challenge. My name is Candice, And today's practice is a walking meditation. So if you're able to go outside and do this, I highly recommend it barefoot if possible, If you can, Or if you have a pair of barefoot shoes. It's very beneficial for this practice to be outside in nature. Unfortunately right now where I am, There is a special air quality statement for the wildfire smoke outside, So I'm inside. So if you are in the same boat as me and you're inside, That's also perfectly fine. And next time you're outside, You can practice this. You don't need any specific props for today. You don't even need your mat. I have my mat out, But you don't need it. All you need is your feet. So when you're ready, We are going to get started standing. So if you are on your mat or if you're in a room, We're going to get started at the back of the room or your mat facing wherever you have space to walk out in front of you. So when you're ready, Standing. Feet about hips distance apart or whatever distance makes you feel the most stable. And we're going to take a look down at our feet. Spreading through the toes, How far apart can you spread your toes? We're gonna lift all 10 toes off of the floor or the ground. Ground down through the big toe, Pinky toe, Heel of the foot. And then slowly, Can you one at a time, Bring your pinky toe down, Your second toe, Middle toe. All the way to your big toe, One at a time, Grounding down. Almost as if you're grabbing the floor or the ground or your mat with your feet. Feel yourself stable and grounded through your foundation in your feet. And from that downward flow of energy grounding down, Can you press into the feet and feel everything rise up, Energy rising up the legs, Up the spine, Up through the crown of the head. And you can let the arms just rest down beside you. Let's close the eyes for these first few moments. Feel. The feet. Grounding down into the earth. Can you feel the Earth's energy underneath of the feet? Even if you're not outside, Even if you're in your home. Can you visualize the Earth's energy underneath of your feet? Can you visualize? Everything going on underneath of your foundation. All of the millions of organisms. Underneath of the soil, Underneath of the earth, And on top of the earth. Constantly moving, Constantly working, Creating this balanced ecosystem. Can you feel supported and connected to this energy? And know that you are part of it. As you ground your feet down into the earth, Know that you are part of the earth. Just as there's an infinite amount of organisms and ecosystems working underneath of your feet. The cells and the systems in your own body are equally as infinite. So now can you move that awareness to your own body and visualize all of the systems working. All of the cells moving around constantly without stop, Without fail, Without a second thought from your mind. All of these systems working to support your body, Support your life. It truly is infinite. And can you see how you are connected to and part of the organisms and the systems in the earth? Planet, This living organism that has been here for millions and millions of years supporting all life. You are part of it. You are connected to it. You are just as much a part of nature as the grass underneath your feet, As the trees and the flowers. As the animals and the organisms and the bugs, You are just as much nature as all of that. Can you feel that you are part of it, That you are one with it? Infinitely connected to. Infinitely a part of. And just stand here for a moment, Really just bask in that magnificence. And you now bring the awareness into the breath. Feel the subtleties of the inhales moving into the exhales. Exhales moving into the inhales. Each breath connected to the next. Each inhale inviting in the new, The nourishment. A letting go of what you no longer need. This constant motion of giving and receiving. Moment to moment. Deeply connected. Keeping the belly soft, Can you draw the breath in a little bit deeper? Exhale long and slow. And when you're ready, Blink the eyes open. Can you be receptive to your surroundings without the need to label as much or even create stories for what's around you? Can you just. . . Separate yourself from the mind's need to narrate everything. Can you just be mindfully aware of your surroundings? Just take a moment to find that mindful awareness. And if you want to, You can take a look down at your feet. We're going to shift the weight into the left foot. As you inhale, Lift the right heel. As you exhale, Step right foot out in front of you, Heel comes down, Toes come down. Inhale, Left heel lifts. Exhale, Left heel comes down, Left toes come down. Inhale, Right heel lifts. Exhale, Right heel comes down, Right toes come down. Moving with your breath here. If you reach the edge of your room or your mat, You can just go ahead and turn around and continue. Inhale as the foot lifts, Exhale mindfully, Gracefully, Gently placing the foot down in front of you. It might take a moment for you to get situated with your breath, Feel connected, Slow down. And as you do, You can kind of look around to your surrounding. Keeping the movements connected. Each step deeply connected. To the breath, To the earth underneath of you, The ground underneath of you. Let's take a few more passes here. And wherever you are, Just pause for a moment. I want to show you a second way that you can do this if you do want to take it a little bit faster. If you are out in public walking, You can absolutely do this, But you want to connect movement with breath. But you're obviously not going to be walking that slowly if you are maybe going for a walk. So instead, You can shift the weight into the left foot. With your inhale, Step the right foot out in front of you. Exhale, Step left foot out in front of you. So it's kind of guiding one breath. Per movement. Try that for a few rounds. Still mindfully stepping, Mindfully aware of your surroundings. Intentional with each step. And whenever you're ready, You can pause. Bring both feet back underneath of you, Spreading through the toes. Let's close the eyes once again. Take the hands to heart center. And I just want to end here. But feel free to continue this practice for as long as you want to, As long as you have time for. I love walking meditations. It's not all just seated on your mat or on a cushion. You can be mindful in really any aspect of your day. And I find a lot of the time when I'm out walking, My mind's racing, I'm thinking about all kinds of things, But if you bring this meditation into even when you're out for a walk, It can bring such a grounding quality to even just a walk outside. You can feel so deeply connected to your surroundings and present in your day if you just incorporate mindfulness and presence in whatever you're doing. So take a deep breath in through the nose. Exhale, Let it go. Moving into whatever you're doing after this, Feeling deeply connected. And you can blink the eyes open. And thank you so very much for joining me once again, And we'll see you again tomorrow.