Welcome to a mindful walking meditation.
I'll provide a brief introduction and then our meditation.
For this walking meditation,
You'll first want to find your location,
A recommendation that it be a place to walk back and forth of about 15 to 20 feet or so.
And if you're unsure,
You can place a yoga mat and walk the length of your yoga mat.
Recognizing that the destination for mindful walking is not the practice.
So having a destination for this mindful walking meditation is not needed.
Next,
You'll want to determine how you'd like to hear your meditation,
Either by placing your audio on speaker or if using noise canceling headphones,
I invite you to put them on transparent,
Inviting you to allow the sounds around you to be present.
However,
This is meditators choice.
If you need some time in your environment to prepare,
You can pause this meditation and come back to start.
Let's begin.
Let's start by standing.
Bringing the body to stillness in a standing posture.
Feeling into the soles of the feet.
Inviting you to take maybe a few deeper breaths.
And as your attention settles in the soles of the feet,
Seeing if you can distribute your weight evenly.
Feeling the weight distributed in the soles of the feet.
The sides of the feet.
Sensing into the balls of the feet and the toes.
Bringing your attention up your legs,
Into the torso.
Sensing into your posture.
Upright and not rigid.
Allowing the arms and hands to be in a natural posture at the sides.
And when you feel ready,
Taking your first steps here,
Recognizing that speed is not important.
Moving at a pace that feels comfortable to your body.
And if your balance is struggling,
Perhaps increasing the pace a bit.
Moving forward and noticing the lifting,
Placing of the feet.
The movement of the body forward.
Maybe even using a mantra of lift,
Move,
Place.
Lift,
Move,
Place.
To reflect your steps.
Or if you'd like to use other words here,
Feel free.
Speeding them up to the pace of your movement.
And if the eyes wander,
Recognizing that focusing your gaze about two to five feet in front of you allows for you to focus your attention on the body moving.
Lift,
Move,
Place.
Lift,
Move,
Place.
And when you reach the end of your travels one way,
Taking a moment of pause as long or as short as you feel in stillness.
And feeling the body rotate as you turn to go back from where you came.
Maybe even taking a moment of pause after turning before again,
Lifting,
Moving,
Placing.
Lift,
Move,
Place.
Lift,
Move,
Place.
Where is the mind?
If it's traveled or if it's in a story,
That's okay.
The mind is responding as minds do.
Just noticing and gently bringing your attention back to the body moving the soles of the feet.
I'll go silent now.
To provide space,
To welcome practice of returning the attention to the felt sense of the feet.
Sensing in,
Recognizing where your attention is now.
And if the mind has wandered,
Maybe taking a moment and ever so gently labeling what the mind is attracted to.
Maybe planning,
Planning,
Or worry,
Worry.
This traveling of the mind can help identify the habits of the mind.
And once labeled,
Gently bringing the attention back to the soles of the feet.
Lifting,
Moving,
Placing.
Lift,
Move,
Place.
And perhaps sensing into other areas of your body in this walking meditation.
Maybe noticing the movement of the arms or hands next to the body.
Maybe the position of the shoulders up near the ears or back and down.
Or maybe even recognizing the sensations from the whole of the body.
And if there's pain here or discomfort,
Sensing and not seeking to change.
At any time during the meditation,
If there is pain and the decision is made,
To stop movement,
That's okay.
Listening to your body is important here.
Continuing lifting,
Moving,
Placing.
And recognizing when the mind has wandered and bringing it back again and again.
Providing some silence to continue your walking meditation.
Continuing walking here,
Lifting,
Moving,
Placing.
Lifting,
Moving,
Placing.
At one with the body.
And if the mind is still active,
Recognizing and allowing,
While continuing to place the attention in the soles of the feet.
If the mind is wandering to time,
How long will this take?
Or how much more is there of this meditation?
Noticing that that is a way of shifting attention.
And you may even use a quiet voice of,
Thank you,
Not now.
Demonstrating that you are grateful for your natural timekeeping.
And also interested in placing your attention elsewhere now,
In this act of walking.
Lift,
Move,
Place.
Lift,
Move,
Place.
Place.
And by now in the meditation,
You have likely settled on a rhythm.
