Walking Meditation ~ The Body Sets The Pace

Once, around 2015, I began walking to and from work while listening to Alan Watts. Those walks through the lush green forest became moments of beauty and deep presence.
In this session, you’re invited to take your own spirit walk — a mindful journey of movement and awareness. Discover the natural rhythm of your body, and let each step bring you home to calm and connection.
This practice offers about 40% gentle guidance (optional) and 60% silent walking, giving space for stillness, peace, and self-discovery.
image: Joshua Earle

Transcript

Let's go on a walk. So as we're going on this walk, As you go on this walk, I'm going to invite you to open up all your senses. And let's do it one at a time. So right away, Already here, I wonder what you're hearing. And especially, So okay, You're listening to this meditation, But what other sounds are there? And can you listen to those sounds without categorizing what it is that you're hearing? So try that. Even if it's just your own footsteps. Are there any smells that you notice? Maybe that's a bit more difficult, But try to inhale through your nose a bit more intently and just allow your nose to tell you anything, Any fragrance that's in the air. Maybe very subtle, Maybe very strong. And whatever you might be smelling, Can you just be with the raw phenomenon of the smell without judging it as pleasant or unpleasant, But just the pure flavor of the smell? And as for the sense of touch, Notice any sensations in your body without wanting to change the sensations. Any sensations. Maybe it's very obvious to feel your legs or your feet. How does it feel to be in in your body right now? What can you notice? And just letting it be there. And as for the sense of touch, How does it feel to be in your body right now? And we'll return to the sense of touch in a moment. And next, Let's open up our eyes. I don't mean. . . I mean, I hope you have them open already. Unless you're walking very slowly, Then it can be nice as well. So let's open up our eyes and let's try to see what's going on in our body right now. I don't mean. . . I mean, I hope you have them open already. Unless you're walking very slowly, Then it can be nice as well. In fact, That just gives me an idea for in a minute, But for now, I just want you to look around. And not just seeing things as you always do, But really let what you see enter through your eyes. Can you have this sense that your eyes are completely open, Stopping nothing? And this might go along with a kind of relaxation. So maybe you can let the muscles around your eyes and the eyes themselves completely relax and just accept anything that is being seen right now. And the sense gates, They cannot help but be open. But of course our minds do contract and with that our muscles can contract. So here can you, With your sense gates already open, Can you also open your mind and relax your body around your sense organs? And have this sense of true acceptance, At least for this walking meditation of any and everything that is happening right now around you, Inside you. And then I want to invite you to stop for a moment. Of course if you don't want to, Feel free to ignore this, But my invitation is to just stop wherever you are for a moment and close your eyes. And you have to do this in a part of the road or the field where you have a bit of free space to wander. But I invite you to, With closed eyes, Take some very very small steps and try to make them as slow as possible. So with closed eyes can you tune completely into your body and just severely slow down the pace of your footsteps. And to for instance first land your heel on the floor and then centimeter by centimeter or inch by inch roll down your foot until all your toes are on the floor as well. And just do that for a few steps just to get a kind of strong intentionality in this motion. We walk around every day all day quite mindlessly, But can we now do it just as a practice very slowly, Very mindfully, To just give some new attention to what it is like to plant your feet on this planet one by one. And as you're doing that you can maybe also connect to the planet itself that we're just casually walking on every day. But which is this whole magical thing actually when you think about it. So maybe your feet are very gently saying hello to the earth. Hello planet. Remember me? And maybe you'll note that if you do that your breathing changes. It can come automatically a little bit deeper. And just do that for a minute or however long you feel like doing that right now. And then if you want to I invite you to open your eyes again and then ask your body. Ask your body what is your pace. With what with what pace would you like to walk? And your body will actually tell you. So you can just start walking but tune in very intently very intently on your body with the question what is your pace? And then your body will tell you. And it's probably a bit slower than you normally walk. That's my guess. But ask your body and let the answer come by it walking itself. The body will walk itself if you let it. So that's my final invitation for the last few minutes. And I hope you enjoyed this walking meditation for a few more minutes in silence.