Mindful Walking Meditation

All the world's a stage, but so often we don't realise it. In this walking meditation let me show you just how incredible nature's show is by opening up your senses. You'll see how your senses are the gateway to experiencing true beauty in the present moment.

Transcript

All the world's a stage All the world is a stage said William Shakespeare.

So today let's get out of your house and into nature's theater We're going to go on a walking meditation as always Stay safe and vigilant around traffic and if you can walk in an area without any go to a nice park or forest It's nicer anyway As you begin to walk out of your house,

I want you to start breathing in and out of your nostrils only Of course,

If you have to breathe through your mouth because you have a cold or anything,

That's okay But if you're able to I want you breathing in and out through the nostrils use each breath in as an invitation for the external world to merge with your internal world a nice deep inhale And exhale out Finding a rhythm now in your walking Just uncovering that perfect pattern in your pace As you're walking now,

We're going to connect with our field of sight our vision the strongest of all senses in humans But before we get into exactly what we can see Let's focus a little bit on how we see And probably more specifically where we see We're gonna do a little warm-up here.

That is recommended by neuroscientists and psychologist Andrew Huberman It goes like this.

I'll explain first You're gonna look forward with your face.

So your head doesn't move You look all the way to your left You look all the way to your right Then you'll look all the way up and all the way down Now because you're gonna be taking your field of vision to these four different areas If you need to stop walking while you do this,

That's totally cool.

I don't want you tripping and falling That's not what I want.

I just want you to warm up your eyes.

I want you to stretch your eyes So let's do it together while walking or if you need to stop do that now keep your face looking forward Stretch your eyes all the way to the left See what is the furthest thing in your left field of view that you can see?

Remember keep your face forward just your eyes looking left Okay,

Now take it to the right same deal faces facing forward eyes are stretching to the right Now look up this can be tricky when you're walking.

So be careful Now look down Face forward just eyes down Okay,

Go back to looking forward That was your orbital warm-up Now as many benefits to this one of which is that tends to calm down the nervous system But really what I want you to do is get in as much a vision as you can You are prime now to see the world in front of you Now I have some challenges for you,

Like I said vision is the strongest of all senses in humans So we're gonna spend the most time on this your first challenge is Can you notice How many colors are around you right now?

You're gonna look and see how many different colors you can see That can include different shades of the same color.

I Want you to count them and I want you to name them Over to you try it out.

Okay last few colors that you can see Nice Next challenge.

Can you notice something way up in the sky?

No wrong answers here.

Just can you notice something way up above your field of normal view?

Okay Now let's flip that Can you notice something down on the ground?

Crouch down if you want to take a closer look Maybe it's the pebbles on the earth.

Maybe it's a little snail going past you Just find something down below your normal field of view All right Now look for something interesting on your left.

You can use your whole face to look left now You don't have to just use your eyes Great.

Now notice something interesting on your right Now notice what can you see furthest away from you?

The thing that is in the furthest part of your view That you can still make out what the thing is.

So it's not just a blur All right.

Now notice.

What is the closest thing to you?

You can see If you're one of those clever clogs,

You're gonna say your nose And look you're right Just as way of interest What's really interesting is that our nose is in our field of view all the time But our mind blocks out our nose because it knows that our nose is not of interest So you actually see it all the time,

But your brain blocks it out.

Quite interesting,

Right?

Now we've seen the entire world around you.

We've primed the eyes You've looked up.

You look down.

You look left.

You look right Can you look at it as a whole now though?

Can you appreciate this panoramic view you have right in front of you?

This beautiful display that is happening right here The show that nature is putting on for you right now Look at it from the left to the right from the top to the bottom Look at the elements of nature.

Look at the elements of man-made things It's like a painting made for you,

But it only exists in this very moment Like a snapshot in time And it's playing out just for your eyes It's amazing,

Isn't it?

Okay,

Let's switch to another sense now So focus on what you can hear The scientific term for hearing is actually audition and I love that because it's so fitting for a meditation like this It's like every sound is trying out to be in your play like you're hosting my ears have talent If you want to you can take one earphone out if that helps and as you walk just notice things you can hear Listen out for those wannabe auditory candidates your footsteps the music on this track your heartbeat Can you notice all the different sounds?

Now choose one of those sounds And notice all the elements that make up that specific sound the high tones the low tones the different frequencies Maybe notice how the volume of it changes Notice how the volume of it is different to the volume of other things around it Notice all the different elements of that sound It's like this auditions or a range of talents Now,

Can you notice?

Where the sound hits your eardrum?

Can you then follow that sound to where it hits your brain?

I know that sounds weird,

But in truth What you hear doesn't happen in your ears It happens in your brain To be precise in your temporal lobe Can you feel where that is?

I'll give you a little hint It's behind your temples So one last time track that sound and where it comes in all the way to your brain And then give it.

Thanks as we move on Take a nice deep inhale through the nostrils now What can you smell?

Breathe out when you're ready and Continue that cycle Really pay attention to what comes into your nostrils Smell is not a particularly strong sense for humans But it has some really interesting attributes You gotta really pay attention sometimes There's some real subtle smells out there If you can't smell anything in particular Can you find something to smell?

And by that I mean like a flower not the next person that passes by As you search for a scent like a bloodhound You should know that the ability to smell is known as chemo detection and it's actually the oldest of all of our senses We use it to discern what is safe and unsafe to eat.

So it's actually got an express pathway straight to our brain You see the other senses have to contend with an area of the brain called the thalamus That's where these senses are processed That's where we decide whether The thing we see,

The thing we hear,

The thing we feel,

The thing we taste is important And your brain decides what to do with that information But not your smell Your smell is picked up by the olfactory bulbs at the top of your nasal cavity and passed straight To the olfactory cortex.

No thalamus needed This part of the brain is right next to your memory and your emotional area This is why smell is so evocative You ever notice how smells take you back to your childhood or an ex or a time in your life That is seared into your memory Well,

That's thanks to this direct link So if you found that smell and it's making you feel nostalgic now,

You know why?

Smell is like this invisible co-star to so many other things in our lives But now you have seen behind the curtain,

You know how it works With this knowledge take a few more sniffs of whatever you choose again,

Not a passer-byer and Feel this process at play Feel the smell molecules travel up your nose Feel them hit your olfactory receptors Then feel it travel all the way into your olfactory cortex Good job Let's move on So from our oldest actor of our senses to the largest actor of our senses We now move to the skin This of course relates to touch and feeling this is known as Mechanoreception and by the way,

This actor is not just the biggest it has the biggest range of talents You see it can pick up the changes in different forms of touch as well as pressure and temperature The skin receptors in your fingertips for instance are more sensitive to texture the skin receptors on your limbs are most sensitive to stretching and movement and The skin receptors on your lips and the soles of your feet are most sensitive to light touch Now I want you to give each of these different talents a chance to perform for you now Use your fingertips to feel the texture of your clothes now by running them along different fabrics Feel the difference cool,

Right?

Now feel the air interact with the skin on your hands Can you feel the temperature?

And is this temperature different to what you feel for instance on your legs?

Can you feel your arms moving in space?

Via the skin receptors Now wet your lips And then breathe in through your mouth Can you feel the air brush past this new moist area?

Lastly Connect with how the soles of your feet feel right now How do they feel in your socks or in your shoes?

All right,

Great job Now with all of your senses lit up Can you focus on bringing the stage in front of you alive even more?

Can you make this an?

Interactive landscape Not just noticing how it looks But noticing how it feels Noticing how it smells Noticing how it tastes Noticing how it sounds as you pay them your attention you give them life in your mind extending their very being To make communion with your being allowing them entry into your consciousness to live with you Amongst your thoughts your memories and just sensations and every time you think back to this moment You breathe life back in to these things As you experience your time out there walking Seeing the world as a stage You are reunited with the very nature you are born from You're able to merge with this world Do it one last time now with me Opening up all your senses to the world around you inviting it in through your eyes through your ears through your skin Through your nose and through your mouth.

It's a beautiful thing Be on the lookout Always for how nature Is on display just for you How the world is on display just for you The best thing about this show is that it loves audience participation and in this way you become an instrument in the symphony a stage hand in the play and In many ways You're also the star Now,

Can you be inspired?

By the talents of the world around you And can you be motivated?

To start showing the world your talents Not sit in the shadows Not waiting in the wings Not hiding behind your phone You see now that the stage is set And all that's left to do is for you to step into the light.

I Look forward to seeing just what you can do till next time namaste

Reviews

This meditation embraces all the senses used when doing a mindful walk.

Brilliant! I do enjoyed this walk! In fact, between walking daily for the course and your walking mediations, my practice is changing. I find walking meditations so powerful, always full of surprises and revelations. I don't fidget as I do when I sit still and meditate. Not do u rush through a walk just to finish and add mileage to my total. I am totally present, totally engaged, totally blissful - even in freezing snow and wind! Thank you 🙏