This is a walking meditation.
Walking meditation has the benefit of feeling,
Increasing the somatic sense of presence.
Many meditations are an observation,
A reflection or contemplation.
Walking just like sitting can be very powerful mindfulness practice and in some ways the meaning becomes significant due to the movement.
You can listen to this as you're walking or listen and bring the information to your walk.
The experience includes the feeling tones of the body during movement.
Walking meditation can be done in a small area,
Walking back and forth in a confined space or engaged on a long walk or hike.
Start your walking practice with a nice comfortable easy pace,
Not too fast,
Not too slow and bring your awareness to just walking.
Starting with the feet,
Notice planting one foot then the other and maybe in some detail the foot hitting the ground,
Noticing the movement that occurs from heel to toe.
A subtlety might be feeling the heaviness of planting the foot and then the lightness of lifting the foot off the ground.
The lifting and the transferring to the opposite foot.
You can experience walking meditation as you go along and experiment increasing the pace,
Slowing the pace and see if you can start to recognize subtleties of movement.
Resting in a comfortable pace,
Stepping forward one foot then the other and now become aware of the legs,
How they move at the knees,
The hips.
Notice the rhythm of movement and then become aware of your posture,
Holding yourself upright in a relaxed way,
Feeling strong and relaxed and bring your attention to the arms.
Notice how they naturally just swing.
Also of interest is how the arms naturally swing in opposition to the legs.
There might be a metaphor here.
Our balance comes with opposing energy.
Letting the body move and be in a natural rhythm,
Noticing the movement of the legs,
The swing of the arms and the strong posture.
Bring some awareness to sensations,
Scanning the body and noticing what's present.
You might feel comfortable and relaxed with all the motion.
You may feel some tightness in the back or holding some tension in the shoulder and if you notice see if you can release it,
Allowing yourself just a little more ease.
And depending on where you are,
Inside or out,
You might be on the streets of your city or out in nature,
Notice the ease or the effort required.
If walking uphill or if you're walking on flat ground and start to bring more sensory awareness,
Notice what can be heard.
There might be sounds in the distance or nearby.
There may be natural sounds,
Birds singing,
The sounds of waves if you're on the beach,
Traffic in the distance,
Children playing,
The sound of your feet hitting the ground.
Just notice what you can hear and focus your attention there without interpretation,
Just listening to sounds that are present.
And there may be smells present,
Maybe the freshness after a rain,
The scent of plants or flowers,
And maybe there aren't any distinct smells.
And bring some awareness to your visual field without focusing on anything.
Maybe look out into the horizon and appreciate the hundred and eighty degree view that you have.
Oftentimes we miss this because we're so focused on one thing or what is right in front of us.
We don't intentionally include what is also available in our peripheral vision.
Probably another metaphor here.
Notice colors that are present,
The shades of color,
The light and dark,
Shadows,
The textures.
You might explore with a little curiosity and see if you can perceive your movement as you move through space,
As if everything is coming at you,
Or moving as though you're walking through space,
Noticing how everything changes as you move forward.
And now become aware of sensations of touch.
Maybe your clothes brushing against your skin,
The wind,
The warmth of the sun.
Maybe it feels humid.
Maybe the air feels cool.
The pressure of your shoes around your feet.
The invitation is to see if you can explore and be with all that is present.
Present in your body walking,
Sensing the movements,
Feeling the movements of your joints and muscles,
The strength of your spine holding you upright,
Feeling the movement and hearing the sounds,
The steps of your feet,
The distance and near sound,
Noticing how everything changes,
Feeling the movement,
Hearing the sound,
Seeing what's present,
The colors,
The light,
The shades,
The textures,
How sights are coming and continually changing as you move forward,
Feeling the movement,
Hearing the sound,
Seeing what's present,
Feeling the touch of the wind,
Recognizing and allowing and maybe bringing some appreciation to this marvelous and miraculous body,
Feeling all the sensations of movement in your body,
The body sensory abilities,
And maybe even appreciate appreciating the simple ability to move,
To hear sound,
To see sights,
To feel touch,
To smell,
All in an easy and natural rhythm.
Nothing to change,
Nothing to fix,
Nothing needs to be different.
Enjoy your walk and bring a quality of presence to your walk once in a while as a daily meditation practice,
Deepening your awareness to be present and to focus your attention in this moment.
And as you practice walking meditation,
The invitation might to be to play with this,
To be curious and experiment with it,
Slowing the pace,
Increasing the pace,
Seeing what you notice,
Seeing if you can bring all sensory perception,
And discover for yourself what insight might reside in just being present for a few moments.
Thank you for practicing and thank you for practicing with me.
