Welcome to Community Mindfulness Project's walking meditation.
Starting in a seated position,
Taking a moment to transition from getting here to being here in this moment.
Begin by connecting mind and body,
Just by checking in on the body and inviting some openness so that we are best able to perceive all that may arise during this meditation.
Taking a few moments here to fully arrive.
Softening on the exhales.
Starting with a posture of dignity.
The spine straight but not rigid and the shoulders hanging away from the ears,
The arms hanging down from the shoulders and the hands resting wherever it's most comfortable.
Allowing the belly to be soft and round as we sit here.
And now just taking a brief inventory of our mental state in this moment.
What do you notice about the speed,
The quantity and the themes of our thoughts?
Taking a few moments to check in with this part of our experience.
And now taking a brief inventory of our emotional state in this moment.
What emotions are immediately present and discernible,
If any?
Are there other more subtle emotions just behind those?
And just noting what's there for you.
And now taking three deep belly expanding breaths at your own pace to serve as our gateway into the formal practice.
And now just sitting and noticing what it is to sit.
What sensations are present either in one particular part of the body or in the body as a whole?
If many sensations are present,
Placing one's attention on the most evident sensation until another becomes stronger and then intentionally moving your attention to that new sensation.
We're really opening up a conversation with the body,
Engaging in some deep listening to what it has to tell us.
And it's the mind's nature to wander.
So throughout this practice,
When we become aware that our mind has wandered,
Just smiling gently,
Letting go of whatever has pulled us away momentarily,
Celebrating the fact that we've noticed that we've been pulled away,
And then coming back to what we're attending to in the moment.
Now when the time is right for you,
Deliberately deciding to stand,
Noticing all the sensations that arise as you move from sitting to standing whenever you're ready.
And if you're standing now,
Noticing what it feels like to stand,
What sensations are present either in one particular part of the body or in the body as a whole.
Just exploring the experience of standing with a sense of curiosity.
And with the image you�' leash thatotos you from being affected.
Can you be fully in this experience of standing without anticipating the walking that we'll be doing while you're standing,
Just standing?
And when the time is right for you,
Deliberately deciding to begin walking,
Noticing all of the sensations that arise in the soles of the feet or the area just below the knee down to the feet.
Keeping your attention in this very particular area of the body as you lift a foot,
Move it forward,
Place it back on the ground,
Shift your weight and begin again.
And you may wish to stop every eight steps or so to adjust your posture and to firmly anchor your mind in the present moment in case you've drifted off a bit.
And at the end of a pause,
If you've taken one,
Intentionally beginning to walk again.
Okay?
Let's go.
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What it is to sit after having moved and after standing at your own time.
Bringing awareness back to the breath,
Sitting with the breath,
Just being present for the breath.
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Taking some time to invite movement back into the fingers and toes and any other parts of the body.
Maybe taking a moment for some mental journaling about what the experience was like for you today.
And just one last note,
We don't record our meditations in a studio.
We record them where we actually practice in the midst of a busy world.
And so while we can't control what goes on in the world around us,
We can develop a wise response to it.
So asking for your patience if you hear sounds around during these recordings.
May all beings everywhere without exception walk in peace.
Take care.
