Hello dear friend and welcome to a meditation reminder for your walk.
This meditation reminder comes from a recent walk that I took with my beloved pup and it was one of those walks that brought me back into the present moment and that's what I'm hoping to help you with here.
Now you don't need a dog to do this but I do encourage that you go outside and if you're not comfortable at a mountain trail just maybe go to your neighborhood park somewhere local or even a city street that has maybe a little extra foliage than some of the nearby ones.
Of course you are also welcome to just listen to this before you go out but without further ado let's get into it.
So we're outside.
Oh what a day to be alive.
Before we actually start walking maybe we'll just plant our feet below us.
Notice each of your feet are below your hip bones.
You're stacking your vertebrae one on top of the other.
Crown of your head is reaching tall.
Maybe take a nice inhale reach the shoulders up towards the ears roll them back and then down.
A nice tall position and really ground down into your feet.
Feel the four corners of your feet either side of the toe box either side of the heel of each foot.
Feel your feet firmly planted on the earth.
If it's warm out I'll even encourage you to take off your shoes and feel the dirt beneath you but we can save that for another earthing meditation.
So with your feet firmly planted beneath you take a couple deep breaths.
Allow yourself to slow the breath down.
Okay we are out here we are enjoying the present moment in the environment that surrounds us.
So let's take it in.
As you breathe in through the nose notice any smells in the area.
What sense can you pick up?
It can be broad really specific.
Just being aware not judging what's there.
Allow your body to relax on the exhale releasing some tension and let your gaze wander just looking around and acknowledge as you breathe that you are in an exchange with all of the living beings around you.
This could be trees,
Grass,
Squirrels all inhaling and exhaling in their own way contributing to the environment that you're a part of.
If you'd like to make a mental or verbal salutation I welcome you to do so.
Just like saying hello being friendly with a neighbor these are also your neighbors.
When you feel ready begin your walk and as you continue walking see if you can bring your awareness back to your breath and back to the speed of your walk.
Now there's nothing wrong if you want to walk fast or slow but being intentional and being aware of the way that we're walking.
Sometimes we can even notice that the what of we're doing right the speed that we're walking might be tied up into the mental thoughts you know if we've gotten away from the breath away from focusing on the surroundings and into the mental chatter all of a sudden the heart rate might raise up the speed walking might start and if that feels good follow that maybe do a quick walk maybe shake it out but if that's not how you want to feel and you're trying to slow down allow yourself to slow to a gentle stroll now you can stop this meditation right here and let this be your practice or if you would like to add more elements perhaps we'll start expanding to the auditory senses can you hear any birds singing nearby something I love to do on my walks is stop and close my eyes and listen trying to count how many different bird calls I can hear and this can vary right through the seasons this will change you can also notice other sounds in nature such as wind blowing through the trees maybe a rattling of leaves on the ground and also let's be aware of what we might consider non-natural sounds this could be cars driving on the freeway this could be construction work let it all be the landscape or the soundscape if you will where you are in the world right now so I'm going to invite you to walk until you find something that catches your eye maybe it's a very pretty flower or a funky shaped tree or maybe your legs are just slowing and you're noticing that you know I don't want to take a step right now I just want to stand right here and look around a practice that I sometimes do is imagine if nothing was there and it reminds me of the deep intrinsic value that all nature around me has for me that the exact spot where I'm standing would not be the same without that tree without that flower that bird where you are right now in the in the mountains anywhere in between is perfect exactly the way it is and it is this moment any change becomes a different moment maybe there's a sun in the sky and a cloud comes allow yourself as you walk to notice these tiny changes and what a difference that they can make as you continue on your walk you might come back to different practices maybe it's smelling a flower or smelling anything else along your walk maybe it's listening to the sounds nearby maybe it's looking around taking a 360 of where you are at different points it could be coming back to feeling the earth beneath your feet the way your steps rock forward it could be your breath there are many ways to come into the present moment but truly it's just asking for your awareness asking for you to release the past release the future and be exactly where your two feet are wherever you go I hope that you will bring these practices with you and of course have a wonderful journey and a beautiful day remember that you are so worthy so loved
