This is the walking meditation recording.
A meditation that you can do anywhere,
Whether that be out in nature,
In a local park,
Or even just walking along a lane or a street.
If it feels okay to do so,
Starting with a brief pause,
A little time just standing still.
Eyes can be open or closed as you bring awareness to your immediate experience of being here now,
In this particular position,
And in this particular location,
Surrounded as you are by whatever is here.
Feeling the presence of the earth beneath your feet and of the sky above your head.
And then turning your attention inward and bringing awareness to the body,
To your inner world.
Noticing sensations as they come and go.
Sensations in the torso,
In the arms and hands,
In the legs and feet,
This whole living breathing body.
And as you stand here just getting clear about your intention in this practice,
Which is as much as possible to be aware of the experience of walking itself,
With each footstep to connect with your surroundings and with the movements and sensations happening in the body from one moment to the next.
So when you feel ready,
Setting off at a pace that feels right to you.
Keeping an awareness of course of your surroundings so that you don't bump into anything or lose your way.
But in this first stage,
Giving as much attention as you can to your feet.
As they one by one lift off the ground,
Move through space and then land on the ground further ahead.
You One cycle after another.
The feet lifting,
Moving,
Landing.
Lifting,
Moving and landing.
Perhaps being particularly attentive to the exact moment when the heel first touches the ground each time.
And then remaining attentive as the weight is transferred to other parts of the foot before the foot then begins to peel off the ground.
With the toes being the last part of the foot to sever contact with the earth.
And whenever you notice that you have become distracted or lost in thought,
Then coming back to this present moment experience of your feet walking on the earth.
Letting this be your anchor,
What you come back to again and again as often as is necessary.
You Perhaps a sense of each individual footstep being a unique experience.
Something that will never happen again in the same way.
And either staying focused on the feet,
Keeping it simple,
Or if it feels right expanding your awareness to include the legs and the lower half of the body.
Or indeed opening up to the body as a whole.
And then taking in the experience of walking from this wider perspective.
The rhythmic and ever-changing play of movements and sensations corresponding to the steps that you take.
The present moment sensory experience of the body walking one step after another.
Coming back to this as often as you need to.
And it might or might not feel helpful to include also the breath.
Perhaps with some sense of how the rhythm of the feet ties in with the rhythm of the breath.
A certain number of steps for each in-breath,
A certain number of steps for each out-breath,
And perhaps a certain number of steps during the pauses between the breaths.
You The living,
Breathing,
Walking body.
And again keeping it simple if that's what feels right,
But otherwise perhaps expanding the awareness now to take in more of what is around you right now.
Whether that be trees,
Plants,
Buildings,
Fields,
Or streets.
Becoming aware also of other living beings such as humans,
Birds,
Dogs,
And insects.
An awareness of the community of creatures that is sharing this land with you right now.
You The experience of walking through the environment,
Letting go of the past,
Letting go of the future of where you have come from or are going to,
And being present instead with what you are sensing right here right now,
One step at a time.
You Knowing that at any time you can come back to the simplicity of your feet walking on the earth.
You And perhaps from time to time you might feel moved to take a pause either to reconnect with the sensations in the body standing still or perhaps to connect more deeply with something that you have seen or heard and then whenever you feel ready setting off again.
You you So continuing in this way for as long as you want or until your walk comes to a natural end.
You
