Walking with kindness.
This is a mindful walking meditation with cultivating kindness towards yourself and other people,
Including those you happen to meet while you walk.
Find yourself a suitable place,
Indoors or outdoors,
Where you can walk up and down or in a circle,
And begin with mindfully noticing the body whilst you're standing,
Allowing the feet to be placed firmly on the ground,
Ankles and knees to be soft,
The body,
Neck and head upright,
Without effort,
And the arms hanging loosely,
And allowing a soft gaze,
Kindly noticing the bodily sensations,
The mood,
Thoughts and feelings,
And then begin to walk,
Allowing a soothing walking rhythm to develop,
A rhythm that calms the body and the mind,
And depending on inner or outer circumstances,
This rhythm may vary,
When you feel warm,
It may be slower,
When you feel cold,
It may be faster,
It may be helpful to allow the breath to settle comfortably in the soothing walking rhythm,
Without forcing,
Kindly noticing the body moving while you walk,
And now ask yourself,
What could be a kind wish to myself right now,
And if nothing in particular comes up,
You can always practice with the traditional phrases,
Wishes for feeling safe,
Healthy,
Happy or at ease,
Gently repeating the phrases,
Allowing the words to flow naturally,
With the rhythm of your footsteps,
And depending on the pace,
You can repeat the whole sentence with every step,
May I feel calm,
Or just the core word,
Calm,
With every step,
Or you can break the phrase down,
Say in may,
With the placing of your left foot,
I,
With the right foot,
Feel,
With left,
Calm,
With right,
And so on,
As long as repeating the words is helpful,
Just continue,
If you feel you are immersed in the calm atmosphere,
You can leave the words,
And just mindfully appreciate what you notice,
Repeating them again when you feel support from them,
And it's not about striving for effects,
But about cultivating kind intentions towards yourself,
You can keep practicing with one wish,
Or try another wish,
If you feel it connects better,
And if connecting the phrases with your footsteps confuses you,
Just repeat the wish independently from your steps,
You can expand this practice by sending kind wishes to other people coming into your thoughts,
A benefactor,
A dear person,
Or a neutral person,
And when you practice where you're not alone,
You can also send kindness to people or animals that come up in your visual or hearing field,
You don't need to seek eye contact,
So this practice is not much about achieving effects,
But about cultivating an inner attitude of kindness to those you happen to meet,
This can be a playful and wholesome practice,
Cultivating friendly attitude towards people you don't have any special relationship with,
Sending kindness to passers-by in your life,
Wherever you go.
