Walking Meditation - Taking A Walk Mindfully

Too often we go through our world and never really see it. When we set the intention of walking mindfully the world can come alive around us and you will never look at the world in the same way again. Join me for a mindful walk. Music by Chris Collins. #64

Transcript

Welcome,

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

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

I've said before that time is our most valuable commodity,

So I'm flattered that you're sharing some of your time with me.

As you probably know,

I'm not one who holds a convention in my approach to meditation and mindfulness.

For example,

I've found that sitting,

Standing,

Or lying down all work equally well.

The key is that you're comfortable when you meditate.

The breath is the essential part of meditation and mindfulness.

That said,

No one should be surprised that I often get in touch with my breath when walking.

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

And on many of these 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.

Getting in touch with your breath while walking is a natural choice if you're trying to be in the present moment,

Because if you aren't in the present moment,

You're going to fall on your face.

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

Be in the present moment,

Get some exercise,

And be more in touch with your surroundings.

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

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

I'll simply describe what I do and what I saw today,

And you can adapt to your surroundings and terrain.

So please don't close your eyes unless you're stopped to ponder something you see along the road.

And I do encourage you to stop and look around and smell the proverbial roses.

When walking with Chip,

He always loves to stop and investigate things along our path,

So I'm encouraged by him to stop frequently.

And thinking about Chip and I walking 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,

Just as we go down the road.

But just like thoughts,

Chip gets distracted and he goes off to smell this plant or over there and smell where some 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.

You have to try to keep your breath steady and your focus on the road.

And 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 and we do it together.

It's just that the dog is motivated by his 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.

So as we begin,

Let's take in a deep breath through our nose and then exhale through our mouth,

Letting out a sigh.

Now just breathe normally and just follow your breath and be aware of your in-breath and your out-breath.

And 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 as mindful as we can as we explore our world in this moment.

Just continue to follow your breath,

In-breath and out-breath as we hit the road.

Just as an aside,

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

You can always just stand or sit outside and appreciate all that is around you.

Walk at whatever pace you feel comfortable with.

And as you move through your world,

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

Chip and I often encounter squirrels and his nature is to want to chase them,

But when he's being mindful,

He just admires them from afar.

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

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

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 this moment we're walking,

We're standing outside,

Just breathing and noticing the world around us,

Breathing in and breathing out one breath at a time.

For today's walking meditation,

What I did was record notes while Chip and I walked so I can tell you exactly what Chip and I encountered on our day today.

We're in the southern United States,

In Tennessee,

And you may have read in the news that we're having an infestation of cicadas.

That puts it mildly.

When they first emerged,

Chip was very distracted by the cicadas hopping around all over,

But he's gotten better because the cicadas are everywhere.

And for your listening pleasure,

I recorded a little bit of the cicadas this morning.

Here's just a sample.

And when you go outside,

The drone of the cicadas fills the air.

And I hope you appreciate that recording.

That's what we hear constantly.

And the sound never stops.

I don't know if you'll encounter any cicadas on your walk,

But if you do,

Just observe them.

Today,

Chip and I encountered a bunch of different birds.

First,

Right near the house,

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

His color is a vibrant red.

It was so beautiful.

And meanwhile,

We're breathing in and breathing out,

One breath at a time.

And breathing in,

I catch the scent of pine from a large spruce tree.

And sitting atop the spruce tree is a noisy blue jay,

Warning the neighbors that we're walking by.

And it's really easy to be mindful when you're walking.

More so than it is any time else.

Because in some ways,

You're moving through the world.

And 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 everything,

Everything.

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

I want to feel the sun on my face.

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

I want to see and appreciate any people or creatures that I come across along the way.

And as you walk,

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

On our walk today,

We passed by lilac bushes and I smile because they were my mother's favorite flower.

And coincidentally,

I'm recording this meditation on what would have been her 96th birthday.

In the air,

I can tell that someone had a fire last night.

And as we pass this one big house that sits on a heavily forested yard,

We see three white-tailed deer just sitting in the shade of the trees and relaxing,

Beautiful.

Chip and I see them so often that he doesn't even react very much anymore.

And as we revel in the beauty and the wonder of the world around us,

We're just breathing,

Breathing in,

Breathing out,

One breath at a time.

There's always so much going on in the world,

And even if it seems all is quiet,

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

The movement of the leaves in the trees,

The meowing of cats,

The barking of neighborhood dogs communicating with each other.

Chip and I pass another walker,

And she's walking a beautiful golden retriever,

Such a lovely dog.

We go a little bit further,

And there's a pair of squirrels chasing each other around,

And naturally,

Chip wants to join in.

And all the while,

As I'm walking,

I'm focused on my breath,

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

It flows just like a river.

There is so much going on,

Even though at first glance it seems like there isn't.

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

Things to see and smell and feel if you just remain in the present moment,

If you just look around you,

Breathing in and breathing out,

One breath at a time.

By taking a walk this way,

We can accomplish several things.

We can get in touch with our breath,

We can get some valuable exercise,

And we can truly live in this moment and experience all the wonder that life has.

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

And I have to ask,

How often have you walked and not even noticed the flowers along the way or the birds overhead?

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

How many times have you seen beauty but never really noticed it?

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

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

A walking meditation like this helps us to see everything that's there,

Helps us to appreciate everything that's there.

By walking in your world in a mindful way,

Allowing yourself to notice all the beauty and wonder all around you,

While following your breath,

You will never see the world in the same way again.

I promise you,

The world will be different once you've taken time to walk through it mindfully.

The world that you may float through now will come alive.

It will be more meaningful to you and to all those around you 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 our walk begins to wind down,

Look around you and realize how good it is to be alive,

How good it is to be mindful and aware of the world we live in.

Go for a walk like this and try to truly experience everything around you.

Being mindful is remembering that forever is now.

We can't do anything about the past and the future doesn't exist except in our minds,

But we can do something about the now.

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

Till next time.

Reviews

Thank you for sharing about your wonderful walks with Chip in detail, dear Michael, about cicadas, as well as your Mother's favourite - lilac flower. I loved the cicadas recording, I adore hearing them- it only happens for me once a year or less- when I am on holiday either in Greece or- like this year- in Italy- I may put the recording in the FB group 😊🦗🐦🐾🐕💞🙏🏾

On a long hike and gettng centered through the initial still burn! Namaste