Welcome.
Walking meditation can be a formal practice,
Or it can be really more informal,
Where you bring awareness to everyday activity of just walking from point A to point B.
Whether you're moving between floors in your school or in your classroom or through a city street or perhaps along a trail in the woods,
You can guide yourself out of the distracted autopilot that so many of us live through in our day by just paying attention in a really present way.
And by doing that,
We can really stay safe in staying fully aware of whatever is going around you at that time.
So this practice you can enjoy on any walk or hike and it just is about cultivating awareness instead of mentally checking out.
So I invite you to find that quiet space perhaps where you can walk,
Where you can give your full attention,
Whether it's in the outdoors,
Down a hallway,
Or even a large room.
This practice that we're going to share together has been adapted from Dr.
Mark Burton and it's called walking meditation.
So as you begin,
Walk at a really natural pace.
Let your hands fall wherever they're comfortable,
Perhaps on your belly,
Behind your back,
At your sides,
Or maybe one hand is on your heart for a moment.
If you find it useful,
You can count steps up to 10 and then start back at one again.
If you're in a really small space,
You can reach 10 and pause and then with an intention,
Choose a moment to turn around and start again.
The idea with each step is to pay attention to the lifting and falling of your foot,
To notice the movement in your legs and throughout the rest of your body,
To notice any shifting of your body from side to side.
Just being aware of whatever captures your attention and then allowing yourself to come back to the sensation of just walking.
Your mind will wander.
So without any frustration,
Judgment,
Just gently guide it back as many times as possible,
Back to this traveling of walking,
The sensation of moving.
Particularly outdoors,
Really maintain a large sense of the environment around you.
Give yourself lots of space.
Take it all in.
Stay safe and stay aware.
Look up.
What do you notice?
And in this few moments as we start to attend to our sensations,
Expand your attention to your sense of sound.
Whether you're indoors or in the woods or in a city,
Just pay attention to the sounds you hear without labeling them or getting caught up in whether you find them pleasant or unpleasant.
Just noticing these sounds as nothing more or less,
Just simple sounds that are around you.
And then shifting your awareness to perhaps your sense of smell.
Again,
Simply noticing the aromas in the air,
Not pushing yourself to feel anything at all,
Just bringing your attention to that sense of smell.
Notice what do you discover.
And then moving on to the sense of sight.
Take note of whatever you see around you,
Colors,
Patterns,
Textures.
Oh so patiently bring your mind back each time something else grabs your attention.
Just gazing gently,
Keeping this natural focus,
Not overly rigid,
Not daydreaming and drifting,
But this lovely sustained awareness of what you notice.
Keeping this open awareness of everything around you,
Wherever you are.
There's nothing to do,
Nothing to fix,
Nothing to change.
You're just fully aware,
Fully aware and walking.
This gentle practice of noticing things around you while you're gently moving your body.
So for these last moments of this practice,
Bring your awareness back to that physical sensation of moving,
Of walking away from wherever your mind may have drifted off to and found itself throughout the practice.
Come back now to noticing the sensations of your feet touching the ground again.
Notice the movements in your body with each and every step.
You can continue to walk for as long as you need to,
But when you are ready to end your meditation,
This practice,
Stand still for a moment.
Just pause.
When you're ready to choose the moment to end the practice,
Consider how you could bring this awareness of all the things around you and within your body to the rest of your day as you go.
Thank you for practicing with me.
Have a really lovely day.
