Before you begin walking,
Take a moment to check in with the body if you can.
And you can also do this if you're already walking.
Feeling the contact to the floor,
How the earth supports you.
You're swaying back and forth from one leg to the other a little bit.
Feel your child as it rests in your arms,
Your chest,
Wherever you have her.
And then begin walking at a natural,
Slow speed.
Feeling your body as a whole.
Feeling the steps,
The body movement,
The contact with your child,
The warmth.
And then feeling into the sensation of walking in your feet,
The heel lending first,
The rest of the foot following,
Until the whole foot touches the ground.
And then starts lifting off again.
And you can do this walking very slowly or just focusing on one foot or one part of the movement,
Like the heels lending.
Whatever you can really deeply feel into in this movement.
Feeling the heel lending,
Rest of the foot following.
Then the whole foot touches the ground and then starts lifting off again.
When you get distracted,
Take a moment to deliberately notice the distraction.
The thought,
The emotion,
The sound,
The movement of your child.
And feel what is arising as a reaction.
What is your child breathing or fussing or crying?
Feel into that and feel into your reaction.
What is arising in the moment?
Love,
Annoyance,
Exhaustion,
Tiredness.
Just hold this emotion and give it the space it demands.
Not judging it,
Not wishing it away.
Simply taking a moment to feel into it.
To be aware of it.
And then very gently try to direct your attention back to the sensation of your feet touching the ground.
Feeling the heel lending,
Rest of the foot following.
Then the whole foot touches the ground and then starts lifting off again.
And periodically just opening awareness.
Making it a little wider.
Feeling your body as a whole,
The content of your child,
Your arms,
The warmth.
The beauty of this shared experience,
However relaxing or exhausting it may be.
To help you with keeping the focus on the feet,
On the sensation,
You can also note the steps,
Note the different sensations.
When the heel lands you can note heel,
Note rolling,
Note toes,
Note foot lifting.
Or simply something like touch,
Touch,
Touch or step,
Step,
Step.
Or you can also count the steps that you take,
One,
Two,
Three,
Until you turn around at the end of your living room or hallway.
Feeling the heel lending,
Rest of the foot following.
Then the whole foot touches the ground and then starts lifting off again.
And then finally as we come to a close,
Opening the awareness to the body as a whole.
The sensation of walking in all the different parts of the body,
The arms swaying,
Legs walking.
The child in your arms,
The warmth,
The pressure.
Unless the skydive meditation comes to a close,
I invite you to of course continue walking for as long as it feels good and beneficial for you.
