About A Walking Meditation

I often get in touch with my breath when I'm walking. I've mentioned before that my dog Chip and I walk around 7 miles a day and on most of those days I take the time to get in touch with my breath. It's all in keeping with my philosophy of getting in touch with your breath throughout the day and making your meditation practice an integral part of your life. Join me for this walking meditation. Music by Chris Collins. #113

Transcript

Welcome,

And I hope that each one of you will come to find peace within yourself.

As always,

I'm so glad that you've taken time to share this moment with me.

Time is our most valuable commodity.

It's the one thing that we spend without knowing what our balance is.

So I'm pleased that you're sharing some of your precious time here with me.

Today,

We're doing a walking meditation,

And I often get in touch with my breath while I'm walking.

I've mentioned before that my dog Chip and I walk about six or seven miles a day,

And on most of those days,

I take time to get in touch with my breath.

And it's all in keeping,

Really,

With my philosophy of getting in touch with your breath throughout your day and making your meditation practice an integral part of your life.

Now,

Early,

Michael would have never believed that it would be possible to get in touch with your breath and walk.

I was very rigid and thought that I had to be sitting upright with my legs crossed and so on.

But getting in touch with your breath while walking is just a natural choice if you're trying to be in the present moment.

Because if you aren't present,

You're going to fall on your face.

So it's a wonderful time to get in touch with your breath,

To be in the present moment,

To get some exercise,

And to be more in touch with your surroundings.

And if you're walking with an animal,

A dog,

For example,

It gives you precious time with them.

Our goal during our walking meditation is simply to be aware of our breath and to be very conscious of the world around us.

And since I'm not walking where you'll be walking,

I'll simply describe what I do and you can adapt it to your surroundings and your terrain.

Please don't close your eyes unless you're stopped to ponder something.

And I do encourage you to stop and smell the flowers,

To smell the proverbial roses along the way.

When I'm walking with my dog Chip,

He loves to stop and investigate things that are along the path.

So I'm encouraged to stop frequently and I encourage you to stop frequently too.

And you know,

It was thinking about Chip and I walking that brought me to this realization that my walking with my dog is very much like a meditation in that I represent the breath and he represents the thoughts.

So like the breath,

I'm walking steady,

Keeping a steady pace,

Like as we go down the road.

But just like thoughts,

Chip gets distracted and he goes off to smell this plant or to go over there and smell where this other dog has been or he sees a squirrel and he wants to go that way.

So it's very much like what we encounter when we're trying to meditate and you have to try to keep your breath steady and focus on that.

Just let the thoughts wander back and forth and let them pass away.

Just let them go.

There was a time long ago when I used to fight the dog because I wanted to be in control of both of us.

But then I realized that I can have my walk and he can have his walk.

Because really,

Even though I'm the master,

I'm the one in charge,

It's his walk too.

It's just that the dog is motivated by a sense of smell.

So he's going to look at things that smell good to him.

Things that I can't smell at all.

And much like thoughts,

They don't pertain to our breathing.

So we just need to let them go,

Like I do with Chip.

No judgment.

Okay,

So if you're ready to start walking,

Let's begin by taking in a deep breath through our nose and then exhale through your mouth,

Letting out a sigh.

Now,

Just breathe normally and follow your breath and be very aware of your in-breath and your out-breath.

Since we're walking,

Your breathing might be faster than when you're at rest and that's okay.

Our goal here is to be mindful as we explore our world in this moment.

So just continue to follow your breath,

Your in-breath,

Your out-breath as we hit the road.

And just as an aside,

If you don't feel like walking or you don't have time or the weather is bad,

You can also just stand or sit outside and appreciate all that's around you.

Walk at whatever pace you feel comfortable with.

I walk fairly quickly,

About six miles an hour,

But you can walk slower.

And as you move through your world,

Take note of all the things you encounter on the way.

Chip and I often come across squirrels and it's his nature to want to chase them.

But when he's being mindful,

He just admires them from afar.

Being in the present moment means living fully and living completely in the moment that you're in.

That means not worrying about things in the past because those things are gone and unchangeable.

And it also means not spending a lot of time worrying about the future because that doesn't even exist.

The only moment we're concerned with is this one.

And in this moment,

We're walking or standing outside,

Just breathing,

Breathing in and breathing out one breath at a time and noticing the world around us.

For today's walking meditation,

What I did was record notes while we walked so I could give you an exact replica of the walk that Chip and I had this morning.

We're in the southern states in Tennessee and our weather has been fairly good today.

It was about 70 degrees Fahrenheit,

Sunny,

Clear sky,

A little bit humid,

But that's not a problem.

We encountered a bunch of different birds.

Right near the house,

We saw a male cardinal sitting on the bird feeder and eating some sunflower seeds.

And his color is a vibrant red,

So beautiful.

In another tree,

We could see his mate.

Cardinals mate for life,

So it's the same pair I see every year.

And as I'm walking,

I catch the scent of the pine from a large spruce tree that's in the house next door.

I see a noisy group of crows that are cawing like crazy about something that's over there in the trees,

But I can't see what it is.

And you know,

It's easy to be mindful when walking.

It's as easy as it is any time else.

And in some ways,

It's easier because you're moving through your world.

So all you have to do is have the intention to be mindful and stay in the present moment and then move your feet.

Being in this moment,

I want to experience as much as I can.

I want to feel the wind on my skin and in my hair.

I want to feel the sun on my face and on my arms.

I want to touch the bark on the trees and the leaves on the shrubs.

And I want to see and appreciate any people or creatures that I encounter along the way.

We're just walking along,

Noticing what we see in the world around us and taking a moment to appreciate the foliage or the colors of the birds.

As you walk,

Sniff the air and see what's going on around you.

We have a lot of lilac bushes around us and they're in bloom right now,

So I can smell that in the air.

I can also smell the pine from the trees.

Lilacs were my mother's favorite flower,

So I always notice them.

I can also tell that someone had a campfire or something last night because I can smell the wood smoke in the air.

And as we're going along,

I see a group of white-tailed deer.

It's a buck and a doe with two little fawns.

And they're standing there just looking around and eating some grass.

And as I'm walking,

I revel in the beauty and the wonder of the world around us.

I'm just walking and breathing,

Breathing in and breathing out,

One breath at a time.

There's so much going on in the world,

And even if it seems completely quiet,

All you have to do is stop and listen to see and hear all that's going on around you.

The movement of the leaves in the trees,

The barking of the dogs down the street,

The meowing of the cats,

The chittering of the squirrels in the trees.

Today we passed another walker,

And she's walking this beautiful golden retriever.

And all the while I'm walking and I'm focused on my breath,

Sensing where I feel it as it moves in and out.

And I know that there's so much going on that even though at first glance it seems like there isn't,

There's movement and sound and smells and activity all around you.

All around you if you just take the time to notice it,

To appreciate it.

Things to see and smell and feel if you just remain in this present moment and remember that forever is now.

No tomorrow,

No yesterday,

Just the present moment.

And by taking a walk this way we can accomplish several things.

We get in touch with our breath,

We get valuable exercise,

And we can live in this moment.

We can come to more fully appreciate everything in the world around us.

I often think how often many people have walked and not ever noticed the flowers along the way or the birds overhead.

How many times have you listened to someone and not heard them?

How many times have you seen beauty but not noticed it?

Too often we go through our lives and don't really see what's there.

We skim through and all the beauty and the wonder of this world goes past us.

I promise you when you walk and you're mindful and you stay in this present moment,

The world will be a different place once you've done so.

The world that you float through will come alive.

It will be more meaningful because if you can be more present,

It will impact every aspect of your life and you will be on the road to finding peace within yourself.

Now as we come to a close,

You could still be walking.

Just notice where you are and I encourage you to go for a walk like this and try to truly experience everything that's around you.

Sense and things to feel and things to see and things to hear.

I hope this has been a beneficial and calming session and I'm so thankful that we've shared this together.

Till next time.

Reviews

This is so lively and lovely, Michael - you and Chip remind us of what most important is- take in beauty of nature with our breath- one breath at a time! Thank you 🙏🏾💞💪🏽🌄🏞🐕🦮🐈