Welcome.
This is Dr.
Yoni Arthur and thank you for joining me for this walking exercise for dizziness.
Walking is one of the best exercises you can do for your vestibular system.
It requires you to use all the senses involved in balance,
Your ears,
Your eyes,
And your sense of touch.
They all work together in a wonderfully harmonious way as you adjust your movement to your environment,
Which shifts moment to moment as you walk.
Because walking is such a complex symphony of all these factors,
When we have a tendency toward dizziness,
Sometimes sensations of walking can trigger the brain's danger system.
This can increase symptoms.
This walking exercise will help you get into the habit of noticing these danger signals and then sending your brain messages of safety instead.
With practice,
This will reduce your sensations of dizziness.
To start,
Choose a walking path where you feel safe and at ease.
It can be inside,
In which case you will walk back and forth on your chosen path.
Or it can be outside,
Ideally in a quieter place where you will not be disturbed for the next 10 minutes.
First,
Feel the ground beneath you as you stand for a moment.
Notice the pressure of your feet on the ground.
Imagine rooting your feet into the earth.
Focus on that connection between your feet and the earth.
Notice the pressure is different in different parts of your foot.
Notice your toes,
Your instep,
And your heels as you stand.
If you feel any sensations of dizziness right now,
That is perfectly okay.
Just notice them.
That is your brain taking in all of this information from your senses and responding.
Take a moment to experience any sensations without judging them.
They are like fish swimming by in a pond.
Notice where you feel those sensations.
Notice their shape.
Do they have a texture?
Do they have a color?
Spend a moment here just noticing them.
And if you do not feel any dizziness sensations,
Just keep focusing on the feeling of your feet rooting into the ground and notice that sensation.
Now,
With body awareness,
Slowly start to walk forward.
Take as much time as you need with each movement.
You're just noticing the sensations of walking as you move.
You can notice the shift of your weight forward from your heel to your toes.
Notice the stretching sensation in your foot when that happens.
Notice the foot lifting off the ground and the movement of the foot through space.
Can you notice the exact point where the lifting of the foot becomes the placing of the foot?
See if you can stay with your foot through the whole step from placing on the ground to the rolling forward and shifting of weight to the lifting and moving through air to placing back on the ground.
See if you can be really curious about this.
You may be even awed by this process.
The brain and the body have to be so incredibly coordinated to make this movement happen.
While you're walking,
You might find your attention starting to wander.
And that is normal and OK.
When you notice it,
Say to yourself,
Whoops,
Back to the walking and bring your attention back to the sensation of walking.
That moment of awareness when you notice your attention has wandered is a valuable part of this exercise.
So if your mind wanders 10 or 100 times,
It doesn't matter.
Just notice when it happens.
Now,
While you are walking and noticing the sensations of walking,
You might start to feel sensations related to your dizziness.
If not,
Keep on paying attention to the walking as you have been,
Noticing the sensations of the foot lifting off the ground,
Moving through space and stepping back down.
If you do notice any dizziness related symptoms,
Choose one to fully experience right now.
You'll use a light sort of attention to experience it like,
Hmm,
I feel a pressure sensation right now or I feel a floating sensation right now.
As you experience it,
Start to explore it while you continue to walk,
Allowing your feet and the familiar rhythm of walking to anchor you.
Explore that sensation.
Where is the sensation?
What shape does it have?
Be lightly curious about it.
What texture does it have?
Does it change as you lightly rest your attention on it?
What else do you notice about it?
It doesn't matter if it changes at all.
You are just spending some time with it,
Getting to know it without judging it.
You are not trying to get rid of it or fight it or make it go away.
It might feel very strange to relate to it this way if you're used to fighting it.
But right now,
I'd like you to spend another few moments just experiencing it as pure sensation.
I'd like you to get curious about where it is,
What texture it has,
And even what it looks like if you can picture it.
You're just watching that sensation float by like clouds in the sky or swim by like fish in a pond.
The sensation is just happening.
There's no need to change it.
You're just getting to know it.
When you're near the end of this exercise,
Take these last few moments to gently bring your attention back to the sensations of walking if you've been focused on other sensations.
Know that noticing your body moving in this way is changing your brain.
You are changing the automatic danger responses that lead to sensations of dizziness,
And you are teaching your brain that it is safe while you move.
Over time,
This will reduce your dizziness-related symptoms.
If it feels right to you,
Take a moment to thank your body for the incredible coordination it takes to move in this way.
And now,
You can stop the exercise or feel free to continue your walking on your own.
