Walking meditation.
Standing in a position that feels upright and connected to the earth.
Pausing a moment or two here to notice the feeling of your feet and how they connect into the ground.
Feeling under the balls of the feet.
Under the heels.
Feeling up through the feet,
Up through the legs,
Through the hips,
The torso,
The neck.
Feeling the head balanced on the top of the neck and the whole body balanced on top of the feet.
Perhaps in these few moments of simply standing,
Just feeling the tiny micro movements that the body makes to maintain balance.
The subtle shifts and activation of muscles through the torso and the legs.
Just noticing what's present for you at the beginning of this meditation.
Feeling also into the flow of your breath.
And noticing the subtle movements of the breath as you stand here.
The flow in and the flow out of the breath.
No need to make the breath be any particular way.
Just noticing how it feels,
Where you can feel the breath in the body the most strongly.
And perhaps just noticing the sense of breathing into the whole body.
Feeling as you breathe down into the feet,
Up through the legs,
The torso,
The neck and the head.
Feeling the breath moving right out into the extremities of the body.
The fingertips,
The toe tips.
And then returning your awareness to the soles of your feet.
As you begin to take your first step.
Letting the body move its centre of balance into your support leg as you lift the opposite leg.
Lift the foot,
Step forward,
Feeling the heel contact the ground.
And then the outer blade of the foot,
The ball of the foot and the toes.
Noticing how the body rocks forward so that the weight comes on to that foot.
And the standing foot now becomes the moving foot.
Feeling it swing through and contact onto the ground in front of you.
And just at a very slow pace.
Feeling into those points of contact under the feet.
Noticing perhaps the very first touch of the foot to the ground.
The feeling of the surface beneath the foot,
Whether it's smooth or soft,
Warm or cool,
Rough,
Pebbly.
Just feeling those sensitive points on the feet,
Making contact with the earth beneath you.
Maintaining your awareness as best you can with this simple movement of walking very slowly,
Very attentively.
Feeling the shift of weight from one foot to the next and the way the body is held as you take your stance from one foot to the next.
And just when you're ready,
Pausing and standing again.
Feeling the earth solidly beneath both feet.
And then as you're ready,
Turning around and walking back for the same distance you just walked forward.
As you turn to face in the direction that you just came from,
Refreshing your attention on the feet,
On the sensations in the body.
Staying present,
Feeling into this miraculous act of walking at your own pace,
At a slow,
Natural pace.
And if you find your mind starting to think about other things or getting distracted by something or other,
Just as soon as you notice,
Perhaps noticing what took your attention away.
And then once again,
Tuning into that feeling,
Sensation of feet on the ground.
Body moving.
Pausing and feeling and then turning when you come to the limit of your walk.
And continuing in this way for another few minutes.
Feeling into this very simple act.
Each step upon the ground takes you forward.
There's no need to get anywhere with this meditation.
Other than this step now.
Simply enjoying or not.
Just noticing.
The feeling of walking.
Standing upright and walking on the earth.
And as you come to the end of your meditation,
Coming into a standing position once again.
Feeling the solid connection under both feet.
That sense of standing upright on the earth.
The breath moving in,
The breath moving out.
And carrying this solid sense of connection to the earth,
Of presence in this moment,
Into your day.
As we close this meditation.
