For the next practice,
We're going to be doing some walking.
And to do that,
I'll invite you to just to line up either on the wall here or on the wall there,
But just make sure you're not facing someone directly so you won't run into them.
And we'll begin by standing,
The feet hip width apart.
The arms are dangling by the sides.
Just being aware of the weights at the feet.
Noticing how the weight is distributed on the bottoms of the feet.
Finding the center there,
We might rock forward or back a little bit.
Side to side.
Side to side.
We're straight but we're not stiff.
Little bend in the knees.
And as we stand here,
Noticing the body still breathing.
And we can begin the walking meditation by shifting the weight of the body onto the right foot completely.
By intentionally raising the left foot in the air,
Noticing that movement.
And then moving the left foot forward in the air,
Placing the foot down,
Noticing what part of the foot is touching the ground first.
And then shifting the weight onto the left foot.
And as we do that,
Noticing the right heel rising.
And then intentionally moving the right foot across space,
Doesn't have to be very far ahead.
And then placing the right foot down,
Noticing the sensations,
And then shifting the weight onto the right foot.
And then continuing that on your own pace,
This lifting,
Moving,
Placing,
Shifting.
Lifting,
Moving,
Placing,
And then shifting the weight.
And then just continuing that movement and that awareness of the movement.
Perhaps keeping a soft gaze a few meters in front of us.
And really using the sensations of movement at the feet as the anchor for our attention during this practice.
Once you arrive at the end of your lane,
You can just pause for a moment.
And then notice how you turn around.
Again,
Noticing the movement at the feet as you do that.
And then choosing which foot will I first use to start moving.
And then shifting,
Lifting,
Moving,
Placing,
And then shifting again.
Rather than walking automatically as we usually do,
Here we're bringing a lot of awareness and deliberation.
And then going somewhere else,
Just walking for the sake of walking,
Going nowhere.
Just like we do with the breath,
Seeing if you can really deconstruct,
Pay attention to all the different parts of the cycle of movement.
Noticing the details,
The nuances we don't typically notice.
You can experiment with different speeds,
Slowing down even more,
Speeding up a little bit.
And noticing what that does to your awareness.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
Notice being lost in thought,
Thinking about something as we typically do when we walk.
Just again gracefully coming back to what's actually happening right now,
The movements at the feet.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
We'll transition now to sitting practice.
So keeping up this awareness of the body movement,
Seeing if you can grab your things,
Place your things once again,
Prepare yourself for sitting.
And at the same time being aware of the body moving,
Being aware of what your feet are doing.
