Hi there,
Welcome to the walking meditation practice for grounding yourself,
Rooting yourself and listening to Earth's pulse.
This guided meditation is a beautiful practice to integrate into your morning routine,
But it can be done any time of the day.
The goal of this practice is to walk very slowly and become mindful of your feet landing on Earth and then lifting off.
Remember that this is both a mindfulness practice and a practice in cultivating concentration.
May this practice serve to shift your focus away from the everyday grind and bring you in touch with a counterintuitive form of slow movement that heightens your awareness of you currently inhabit and your surroundings.
Just as you bring awareness to the body that is sitting in meditation,
You can bring awareness to a body that is moving.
To practice walking meditation,
Let's start by finding about 10 to 15 feet of space either inside or outside.
You can walk inside your home,
Outside in your yard or anywhere you can access enough distance.
It is also an ideal practice to walk barefoot on grass in the morning for this meditation.
Now stand still for a moment and close your eyes.
Feel your body's posture,
Your feet on the ground and any movement that you are currently experiencing.
Let's begin by shaking off all the tension in our bodies by first shaking our hands and arms and moving from side to side,
Tapping parts of the body where you feel tension.
Once you feel ready,
Open your eyes.
Now decide which leg will be stepping first.
As you lift the right foot,
Feel the bottom of the foot lose contact with the ground.
As your feet hang in the air,
Observe your breath and allow yourself to relax further and delve deeper into this practice.
Now move your foot forward and observe the sensation of the foot coming back into contact with the ground.
Now lift the other foot and attend to the experience with the same awareness.
You may continue taking these steps with a count of three.
So lift your foot from the ground.
One,
Two,
Three.
Hold it in the air.
One,
Two,
Three.
And place it back on earth.
One,
Two,
Three.
If your mind wanders,
Bring your attention back to the feeling in the feet leaving the ground and then touching the ground again.
Walk 10 to 15 steps and then mindfully turn around.
Notice any tension in your breath and allow yourself to relax further.
As you turn,
Notice how the hips,
Legs and torso adjusts to the turn of the body.
Now walk slowly,
Taking a step every three or four seconds.
Bring your attention to the space in which you are gently moving.
As you become acquainted with this slow gait,
Bring your awareness to the five gaits in your body.
These include first the top of the head,
Second the middle of the palms of the two hands and third the middle of the balls of the two feet.
Bring your mind to these areas.
Feel,
Imagine and sense your awareness opening and connecting to the energies of the universe.
Feel your whole body expanding,
The energy from your body reaching out in all directions.
Also notice and feel your whole body listening while standing and opening.
Heighten your awareness of the sounds in your environment and where they land and reverberate in your body.
After opening the five gaits,
Proceed now to take the three gulps,
Which are about taking a big drink from nature.
On each inhale,
Raise your arms above your head and then let it move down the front center of your body up to your belly button at each exhale.
Send the energy down on each exhale.
Do this a few times until you find your whole body reverberating inside the space around you and your mind radiating a sense of release of all thoughts and worries and in a heightened state of awareness.
Now,
We will repeat a mantra to deepen our practice of walking and grounding ourselves to the earth.
Repeat with me a few times now.
With each step as I slow each breath,
I feel the earth holding me,
Supporting me and sustaining me.
With each step as I slow each breath,
I feel the earth holding me,
Supporting me and sustaining me.
With each step as I slow each breath,
I feel the earth holding me,
Supporting me and sustaining me.
With each step as I slow each breath,
I feel the earth holding me,
Supporting me and sustaining me.
With each step as I slow each breath,
I feel the earth holding me,
Supporting me and sustaining me.
Periodically stop,
Stand and repeat opening the five gates and taking the three gulps.
Then continue to walk.
When you are done with the period of practice you set yourself out to do for today,
Stand still for a few moments and make mental notes about how this experience of slow walking has made you feel.
As you move out of the period of meditation and back into your daily life,
You can retain some of this mindfulness of the body.
Thank you for joining me in this walking meditation.
Salaam
