Welcome.
This guided walking meditation is used,
As with other types of mindfulness meditation,
To help bring greater awareness and attunement between our mind and our body.
At its heart,
Walking meditation is the same as sitting and lying meditation.
The awareness we are cultivating is the same.
The body and the mind are the same.
Only now there is walking.
There are as many different ways to practice walking meditation as there are ways to walk,
But it can be helpful in the beginning to find a relatively quiet place where you will not be disturbed,
Where you can walk for about 10 to 15 paces.
But if all you have is five paces or three paces,
That's fine.
Don't let finding the right place stop you from just practicing.
I invite you to begin by standing upright,
Feet about hip distance apart or whatever is comfortable for you.
Perhaps allowing your arms and hands to hang at your side by their own weight,
Like heavy curtains.
You might take a moment to check in.
How is it with me right now?
Is there tension or energy in my body?
Is there any particular mood or any particular thoughts?
Whatever you find is not a problem.
We're just noticing,
Just collecting data about our experience.
How is it with me right now?
Now I invite you to gently bring your awareness into your body,
Noticing the felt sense of the body as it stands here,
Noticing your head and face,
Neck and throat,
Shoulders,
Arms and hands,
Noticing your upper and lower torso,
Pelvis and hips,
Legs and feet.
Noticing the feeling of the soles of the feet as they are supported by the ground beneath you.
And now perhaps noticing the fact that you are breathing,
Taking a moment to notice the physical sensations of breathing in the body.
Walking meditation can be done in any speed,
But again in the beginning,
It can be helpful to walk slowly,
Taking small steps so that we can practice bringing our awareness to sensations.
Now I invite you to allow your weight to slowly shift from one foot to the other and back again,
Beginning to notice the sensations of shifting balance.
For now,
Keeping both feet firmly on the ground and just gently shifting,
Playing with the sensations of balance,
Maybe shifting slightly forward,
Placing the weight into the balls of the feet and perhaps shifting gently backwards into the heels.
When you're ready,
I invite you to shift your weight to your left foot and as you breathe in,
Gently lift just the heel of your right foot,
Leaving the toes of your right foot on the ground.
And now as you breathe out,
Lowering your right heel to the ground and shifting your weight over to the right foot.
And as you breathe in,
Lifting the heel of your left foot,
Again leaving the toes of your left foot on the ground.
And as you breathe out,
Lowering the left heel and shifting your weight back to your left foot.
And do this on your own for a few more breaths.
And now when you're ready,
You might begin to walk.
On the in breath,
Gently lifting one foot,
Moving it forward a small distance and on the out breath,
Placing the foot down and shifting your weight to it.
Repeating like this for each step,
Noticing the physical sensations of walking.
And when you reach the end of your lane,
Pause for a moment,
Noticing the physical sensations of standing.
And then when you're ready,
Mindfully turn around and begin walking back again.
The walking should be slow but natural.
No silly walks just yet.
We're just walking and knowing that we are walking.
You might clasp your hands behind your back or in front of you or just let them hang by your side,
Whatever feels most comfortable and natural right now.
You might even experiment with different positions from time to time.
Noticing what is happening,
How the body feels,
Moment by moment and step by step.
You may have noticed by now that just like in sitting and lying down meditations,
The mind will wander.
And just like in those other meditations,
This is never a problem.
Really it's exactly the same.
Your job is to notice when the mind wanders,
Perhaps note in a word or two whatever the distraction was.
See if it's okay to let go of the distraction and when you're ready,
Gently bring your awareness back to the sensations and the experience of walking over and over again.
Unlike in our everyday walking,
In walking meditation at least in the beginning,
We're not trying to get anywhere.
There's nowhere to go and nothing to do but bring your awareness to the body,
To the sensations of moving and to the movement of the mind.
Gently bringing the mind back whenever it wanders.
Remembering that we're not on a sightseeing tour,
It is often best in the beginning to maintain a soft lowered gaze.
Not looking at your feet and not looking around.
We're just trying not to let the sense of sight overwhelm the rest of our senses.
Just now we want to highlight in our experience proprioception and the physical sensations associated with walking.
In walking,
Just walk.
With walking meditation,
We are cultivating the ability of the mind and the body to stay together from moment to moment.
What is happening,
As in all moments,
Is very complex.
But in walking,
We are practicing holding the sensations of walking center stage in our field of awareness and returning over and over again if the awareness is diverted.
That's really no different from any other mindfulness practice.
Just this moment,
Just this step.
Lifting,
Moving,
Placing.
Breathing in and breathing out.
And as we approach the end of this recording,
I invite you to congratulate yourself for practicing this expanded version of mindfulness practice.
The heart of mindful walking is the same as other practices,
Bringing forth the same awareness,
The same sensitivity to the richness of present moment experience.
If it feels right for you,
I invite you to continue walking as long as you like.
Or if your formal practice is complete,
I invite you to consider bringing awareness to moments of walking throughout your entire day.
Knowing what happens when you do so.
Thank you.
