Now let's begin the walking meditation,
The kinhin.
Find yourself a space about 10 meters long.
It can be outside if you have a quiet space that you can do this in.
Remember though that as you become more comfortable with this,
It's actually quite challenging to do a slow walking meditation in an environment which is noisy.
But for the start,
Choose a quiet environment where you won't be disturbed.
Let's begin by standing in tadasana,
Standing pose,
As we were for our standing meditation.
Again with feet together,
Ankles touching,
Legs touching,
Standing as straight as possible,
Tummy in,
Back straight,
Shoulders back,
Head relaxed but centered.
You'll find as you are walking that the posture will change.
Just be aware of the fact that it does take some time to get yourself centered.
Keep your eyes open during this walking meditation.
Prepare yourself for the first step.
Begin lifting your right heel off the ground.
The ball of your right foot is still in contact with the ground.
Lift very,
Very slowly.
Notice the weight of your body transferring to the left foot.
Slowly lift up your right foot,
Extend one pace forward.
Touch the ground with the ball of your right foot and gradually bring the right foot to the ground.
Notice as you are putting your weight onto the right foot that the left foot heel naturally lifts off the ground and is ready for the next step.
Keep contact with the ground,
With the ball of your left foot.
Notice the shift in weight to the right foot.
Step forward,
Feel the ball of your left foot contact the ground.
Feel the complete contact on your left foot with the ground.
Notice your right foot heel lifting off the ground.
Pause in this position for a moment.
Notice the weight has shifted to the left foot again.
Repeat the process for the next step.
Be mindful of the feeling of contact with the ground on the soles of your feet.
Be mindful of the shift of weight as you move from one step to the next.
Try to vary the landing of your right foot so now it is heel touching the ground first and rolling the feet onto the ball of the foot,
Picking up the left leg,
The left foot.
Notice there is a time when the left foot is completely free of the ground moving forward and all the weight is on the right foot.
Notice the movement of the balance point between each slow step.
As you become used to this slow,
Steady movement,
Bring your attention to your breath.
Try to match the inhalation and exhalation to the steps that you are taking.
Try to direct your gaze to the floor in front of you and keep it at that point without being distracted left or right.
Focusing on the sensation of walking,
Yoke it to the sensation of breath.
If you come to the end of your walking path,
Mindfully rotate the body and return to your starting position.
Notice how the body moves and sways to each step that you take.
There is no need to think,
Movement simply happens.
Feel the body in this slow dance,
Step by step,
Breath by breath,
Slowly,
Mindfully aware.
Come back to the starting position,
Turn your body slowly back to where you started.
Expand your consciousness to the area around you.
This is the end of the walking meditation.
