This is a walking meditation.
As discussed in the course notes,
Please only do this walking practice if you know that you can walk without getting too many symptoms.
You may also choose to walk but take time to sit down when you feel like you need to,
If your heart rate is increasing or if you're starting to feel dizzy.
Please take it at your own pace.
Meditation is a practice of presence that you can bring alive in all settings and all activities.
You can practice mindfulness while you're mindfully eating,
For example,
Or mindfully walking.
You can mindfully look out of the window.
So the training in walking meditation can be particularly valuable for helping you to cultivate an awareness of your embodied experience in each moment,
Allowing you to bring your body heart and mind all together as you move.
So begin by choosing a place where you're going to be walking.
I recommend either an indoor place like your house,
Perhaps a shopping mall if that floats your boat,
Or outside as long as it's not near any road.
So outside in a park or outside in the countryside or in a woodland walk,
You get the picture.
You don't need to walk very far.
In fact,
Staying with a small circular walk might be easiest.
The point of the exercise is not to walk great distances,
It's to focus on everything that's happening,
Both everything that's happening around you and everything that's happening within you as well.
So let's get started.
So start by sitting still and sensing the weight of your body in your feet and the place where you're sitting.
Feeling the weight,
Feeling your muscles supporting and stabilizing you.
Your hands can be in whatever position is most comfortable,
Resting easily at your sides,
Folded gently in front of you or at your back.
In this current seated stillness,
Remain relaxed yet alert.
So slowly come to a standing position,
Maybe taking a few moments to ensure that you're stable and then begin to slowly walk.
See if you can have a bit of a slower pace than might be usual and pay attention to all the sensations that's happening within your body.
Let's start with the feet and the legs.
What are you experiencing in your feet?
Can you feel a heaviness or maybe a lightness?
Pressure,
Tingling,
Energy,
Perhaps even discomfort or pain if that's present.
For the walking practice,
There's play of sensations rather than the breath or the anchor.
It's often the home base for our attention.
So as we're going around on the walk,
You can always return back to focusing on your feet.
Be mindful of the sensation of lifting your feet and of placing them back down on the floor or earth.
Sense each step fully as you walk in a relaxed and natural way around your chosen path.
Take a minute to pause.
You may wish to sit down for the pause rather than standing.
Feel your whole body and allow all your senses to be in the same place.
Let's experience all of the senses that are happening right now.
What does the rest of your body feel like?
Can you feel the temperature of the room or the outdoor environment you find yourself in?
What can you see around you in this place?
Mindfully consider the surroundings you're in.
Also,
What can you hear?
Can you feel the sound of the air?
Can you feel the sound of the wind?
Hear it in the surroundings you're in.
Also,
What can you hear?
Obviously,
You can hear my voice,
But do you also hear a bird song or the wind in the trees?
Take a minute to listen to what you can hear on your walk.
Lastly,
What does it smell like?
Maybe if you're indoors,
You can smell a scented candle or residue of cooking in a different room.
If you're outside,
Maybe you can smell the fresh leaves around you,
Maybe even the ground.
Let's continue the walk now.
Slowly placing one foot ahead of the other in the pace that you prefer.
As you're walking,
It's very natural for your mind to wander.
Whenever it does,
You might just mentally pause,
Perhaps noting the fact that you're thinking about something.
You can even note what that was,
Whether you're planning for the future,
Worrying about the past,
Analysing what's happening right now.
Whatever it is,
Just gently return your attention back to the sensations of your feet on the next step.
No matter how long you've spent lost in thought,
No matter how long you've spent lost in thought,
You can always arrive right here,
Back in,
Bringing presence to the moment-to-moment sensations of walking.
During the walking period,
You might want to alter your pace,
Maybe seeking a greater speed.
Whether you want to go a bit faster or indeed a bit slower,
Just do what feels right for you,
So you can be most mindful of the experience that you're having.
This way,
You're moving back and forth along your chosen path,
Discovering that you're not really going anywhere,
But instead you're arriving again and again in the aliveness that is right here,
In the present.
There's so much power in being here now.
As you're walking,
Has anything changed?
Maybe you feel your muscles in your legs that have been supporting you for a little while feel a little bit warmer.
Maybe you've noticed that your heart rate has changed a little,
Or that your breathing has changed.
Just be mindful of the sensations that you're experiencing.
Or that your breathing has changed.
Just be mindful of what's happening within you.
Also,
With the passing of time,
You might notice that the quality of light evolves according to how much cloud is overhead.
Just see if you can mindfully notice any little changes.
Maybe a bird was in the tree,
But now it's gone.
Always feel free to sit or crouch down into a squat any time you need.
The object of this exercise isn't fitness.
We're not doing cardiovascular exercise here.
What we're doing is maintaining alertness and presence in the present moment.
So,
Always return back to the sensation of your feet on the ground.
On the ground.
Even if you're now sitting,
You can still come back to the sensation of the soles of your feet on the ground or the floor.
Even if your primary anchor is indeed the sensation in your feet and the legs,
Many other strong experiences can arise.
Sounds,
Images,
Thoughts and feelings.
Just include them in your mindfulness.
If they're strong,
Allow them to be in the foreground until they're no longer compelling.
Then resume by again resting your attention on the sensations in the feet and in the legs.
There are some other ways to support quieting your mind as well.
Some people find that mentally noting,
Lifting and placing with each footstep helps to collect their attention.
It's fine to experiment with this,
Or even experiment with counting your footsteps.
Just discover what allows you to be the most embodied,
Relaxed,
Awake and alert as you walk.
This exercise is coming to an end,
But if you feel like you can,
Feel free to continue.
Even restart the recording.
Just know that this present moment experience can be enjoyed any time you choose to have some mindfulness.
As Thich Nhat Hanh teaches,
The miracle is not to walk on water,
It is to walk on this earth with awareness.
What awareness can you continue to bring to your day?
Namaste.
