Mind Your Steps Walking meditation is a common practice in many Buddhist traditions,
Yet it has been largely lost in Western meditation culture.
Acclaimed Buddhist teacher Jack Kornfield says,
The art of walking meditation is to learn to be aware as you walk,
To use the natural movement of walking to cultivate mindfulness and wakeful presence.
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,
Start by finding about 10-15 feet of space.
You can walk inside your home,
Outside in your yard,
Or anywhere you can access enough distance.
Stand still for a moment and close the eyes.
Feel the body's posture,
The feet on the ground,
And any movement you experience.
Open your eyes.
Choose which leg will be stepping first.
As you lift the foot,
Feel the bottom of the foot lose contact with the ground.
Moving it forward,
Observe the sensation of the foot coming back into contact with the ground.
Lift the other foot,
And attend to the experience with the same awareness.
Remember that this is both a mindfulness practice and a practice in cultivating concentration.
When the mind wanders,
Come back to the feeling in the feet.
Now proceed to mindfully walk the 10-15 feet.
Pause this recording,
And when you reach the end of your space,
Hit start again.
Mindfully turn around.
As you turn,
Notice how the hips,
Legs,
And torso adjust to turn the body.
Walk slowly,
Taking a step every 3 or 4 seconds.
You may try incorporating a simple verbal noticing practice,
Similar to a mantra.
As you lift a foot,
Think or say,
Lift.
As you move the foot forward,
Think,
Move.
As you place the foot down,
Think,
Place.
Continue being mindful to the end of your space.
Press pause now,
And when you get to the end of your space,
Resume this recording.
When you are done with the period of practice,
Stand still for a few moments.
Moving out of the period of meditation and back into daily life,
You can retain some of this mindfulness of the body.
