Mindful Minutes: Walking Meditation

This is the practice designed for everyone who says they can't sit still long enough to meditate. You can do this while moving and it's a chance to connect with the movement of your body as well as notice your connection to the planet. You don't need to walk anywhere special, around your room, yard, from the parking lot to where ever you are going. It is a great opportunity to be with all that you are feeling on your journey instead of being focused on what you will do when you arrive.

Transcript

Hi,

And welcome to Mindful Minutes with Matthew.

Today I've got something special planned for all of my friends who say they can't sit still.

That's why they have trouble being mindful or meditating.

Well this is the perfect way for you if you have trouble sitting still.

Because this involves not sitting still.

It involves movement.

It's called a walking meditation.

And walking meditation is so important because most of the time when we're going through our lives,

We are so focused on getting someplace.

Always getting someplace.

It's always where do I have to get to,

Wherever I get to,

Am I late,

Am I on time,

Is there traffic,

All of those things related to getting someplace.

As opposed to just being where you're at in the process of getting there.

In the process.

So focusing that time,

And this is something you can do,

You don't need to go on a special outing.

I'm out in the woods,

It's a beautiful day today,

I just decided to take a walk.

But you can be anywhere.

You can do this walking from your car in the parking garage to your office.

Or in the car from the garage to your front door.

Or any distance.

You can do this in your office,

Walking up and down the halls.

And practice this idea of mindfully paying attention to your walking.

So like I said,

There's no special sitting posture you have to do or special way to breathe.

But you do have to move.

And while we're moving,

We do want to focus our mind on certain aspects.

Right?

Now you can incorporate some of the other techniques that we've already discussed for sitting meditation.

I'll bring those up as we go along.

But just to start,

All I want you to do is just take one cleansing breath just to let it all go.

And then just begin to walk.

Right?

And as you walk,

At whatever pace is comfortable for you,

Remember friends,

You can't do this wrong.

Right?

There's no failure in mindfulness.

There's only feedback.

So let's just focus on whatever's happening in the moment.

So as we're moving along,

Getting comfortable with your pace,

I want you to just shift your attention to your feet.

Start with your feet.

And notice as you're walking how your feet are touching the ground with each step.

Notice the part of your foot that touches first.

And then the next part,

Perhaps it's your toes or the balls of your feet.

Then the mid part of your foot and then your heel as you lift.

Just notice that if it's consistent,

Does it change?

Just notice your foot.

One of my favorite teachers,

Thich Nhat Hanh,

Likes to say,

As you do a walking meditation,

To imagine with each step,

To tell yourself with each step,

I kiss the earth.

My foot kisses the earth.

And connect yourself to the whole amazing earth,

This planet that we get to live on and all the gifts that it gives us.

And here's an opportunity to not be so focused on where we're going,

But how we're going to get there mindfully with intention.

And after a few minutes or moments,

Whatever it works for you,

Of doing that,

I want you to shift your attention to your ears,

Wherever you are.

And notice what you hear in the environment.

I hear the wind rustling through the trees.

Car off in the distance.

Imagine birds up in the trees.

And once you've listened for a while,

I want you to concentrate on your eyes and focus on your eyes.

And what do you see?

What colors do you see?

I see a beautiful orange butterfly,

Actually two of them chasing each other.

The green of the trees.

I see the brown of the ground,

Fallen branches.

I see the clear blue sky,

The bright yellow sun.

I'm just watching a butterfly just come and settle right in front of me,

Sharing the space with that little guy.

So it's very peaceful,

Very calming to do a walking meditation.

And it doesn't necessarily mean you have to slow down the pace to which you get anywhere.

But the gift is you get to be present in the moment as you're walking.

So as with all of my practices,

I invite you to try it.

Give it a chance.

See how it works for you,

What you like and what you don't like.

Always feel free to comment,

Ask me questions.

I love hearing from you,

Particularly how this worked for you and what you learned from the experience.

Thank you so much for all your support.

I wish you mindfulness.

I wish you focus.

I wish you creativity.

And have an amazing day.