Mindful Walking With Others

Walking meditation becomes even more revealing when practised alongside others. As you walk, you'll gently anchor your attention in the sensations of your body—the contact of your feet with the ground, the rhythm of your breath, and the transfer of weight from heel to toe. At the same time, you may notice the mind comparing, judging, imagining what others think of you, or becoming preoccupied with keeping pace.

Rather than trying to change these experiences, this practice invites you to observe them with curiosity and repeatedly return to the present moment. In doing so, you cultivate a more relaxed, spacious awareness that can naturally extend into everyday social interactions.

This guided walking meditation is suitable for beginners and experienced meditators interested in mindfulness, mindful walking, embodied awareness, movement meditation, grounding, present-moment awareness, social mindfulness, body awareness, attention training, emotional awareness and stress reduction.

Transcript

Mindful walking with somebody else. Hello, My name is Chris Walsh. And this is about walking mindfully in the presence of one or more other people. Starting by preparing a space in which you can walk. You may choose to walk in a circle or back and forth in a line. You and the other walkers will need to form an agreement. As to which direction you are going to walk. So that you don't bump into each other. So finding your starting positions. And standing still. Feeling the contact of the soles of your feet with the ground. Noticing any shifting of weight through the soles of the feet. Just allowing your arms to hang. And noticing how your posture feels. Feeling the breath move in your body. As you contemplate taking your first step, Noticing which side you tend to lean to. Noticing which leg you free up to move forward. As you get ready to take your first step. Noticing whether you want to make the first movement. On the in-breath or the out-breath. Or with the breath held. So now, Slowly moving one foot forward and allowing the weight to transfer to that foot. First feeling the heel touching the ground. And then feeling the weight rolling over the sole of a foot towards the ball of that foot. As that is happening, Noticing what is happening with the other foot. It may well be that the other heel is starting to come off the ground and that foot is then getting ready to move forward. Noticing how the movements of the two legs coordinate together as you move forward. Feeling the weight transfer from heel to toe as you move one foot in front of the other. Really feeling the whole sensation of a sole of a foot rolling over the ground. Feeling the body swaying from side to side as the weight transfers from one foot to the other. Moving quite slowly. If there is any awkwardness or wobbliness, Noticing the mental and emotional reactions you have to that. You may become amused or irritated. Whatever you feel is just fine. Just noticing. And continuing to feel the weight going through the soles of her feet. From heel to toe. Heel to toe. Noticing if you have brought your usual mental habit of trying to get somewhere when you walk. If that is the case, Seeing if it is possible to let that go. And enter into just walking without any sense of destination. Noticing your awareness of the other walkers. Noticing if you have had to adjust your paste to fit in with theirs. Noticing how that affects your awareness of the contact of the soles of your feet with the ground. And noticing if you have any commentary about the other walkers or your relationship with them. As you notice these things occurring, Simply bringing your attention back to the heel-to-toe movement of the soles of the feet on the ground. Continuing to feel your weight moving from heel to toe. Hia o te Tau. And when you turn at either end of a line or going around the edge of a circle, Noticing how that changes the way you walk. If the attention settles and the walking becomes easy, You may focus on your breath as well. Continuing to notice the transfer of weight from one foot to the other and from heel to toe. I'll be quiet for a while now and every now and again just say something to remind you to bring your attention to the soles of your feet rolling across the ground. And when you find your mind has wandered, Just gently bringing it back to that sensation over and over. Heel to toe. Heel to toe. Heel to toe. Heel to toe. At some point deciding that after two more circuits you will sit down. Now that you have decided on an end point. That will tend to become a destination. Seeing if it's possible for you to leave that idea of an end point in the back of your mind and continuing to stay in the here and now with just walking. Heel to toe. Heel to toe. That is an opportunity to notice how your mind integrates doing mode that is with the focus on the destination. And Being Mode. With the focus on simply walking. Now continuing with the walking meditation for as long as you want. You could even set a timer if you want. And when you find your mind wandering, Just coming back. Over and over again. To the sensation of the soles of her feet rolling across the ground. Heel to toe. Heel to toe. And later, When you have finished, You may like to share your experiences with your fellow walkers. As you do this, Remembering that mindfulness involves non-judgmental awareness. That means there is no such thing as a wrong experience or a wrong thought from the point of view of mindfulness. So even if someone finds themselves being very judgmental of themselves or others during the practice, That too can be held lightly. It is just another opportunity to notice how the mind is behaving. The value of sharing is that your experience today will be someone else's experience tomorrow. And vice versa. So the sharing helps our learning. And helps us to maintain a non-judgmental stance. So at this point I'll stop talking and you can continue walking for as long as you want, Focusing on heel to toe.