Welcome to the walking meditation.
In this practice,
We will be paying mindful attention to the sensations of movement,
Intentionally shifting our awareness from the mind into the body.
As the name suggests,
This meditation involves walking.
But just a note that if walking is not available to you as a movement,
You have the option of applying the concepts of walking meditation to another physical movement,
Such as the movement of a wheelchair over surfaces,
Or a stretching movement of the arms,
Any form of movement that is accessible to you.
The goal here is to practice moving out of the thinking mind and into a direct physical experience of movement.
Walking meditation can be conducted inside or outside,
But choose a place where you can move freely without feeling self-conscious about being observed.
So I invite you to begin this practice by standing comfortably here with this body that God created.
The feet hip width apart,
The weight evenly distributed,
Making sure that the knees are unlocked.
The arms can hang naturally at your sides,
Or you may choose to clasp them lightly behind or in front of you if that's more comfortable for you.
And as you stand here,
Becoming aware of your surroundings,
Taking in any sights,
Sounds,
Smells,
Noticing any physical sensations,
Thoughts,
And feelings that are passing through your awareness in this moment,
And becoming aware that God is with you here,
That you stand on holy ground,
Allowing all of these things to be just as they are in this moment.
And as you stand,
Receiving these words from Psalm 23 verses 1 through 4,
The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths for his name's sake.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I fear no evil,
For you are with me.
Your rod and your staff,
They comfort me.
Noticing God's presence,
Hear where you are.
So you're standing here in this moment,
In this space,
All at once,
The top of your head reaching up toward the sky,
Your feet grounded in the earth,
Settling your attention now on your feet,
The tops of your feet,
The soles of the feet,
Each toe,
Making a shift from thinking about your feet to feeling them directly,
Noticing whatever sensations are there.
Perhaps sensations of contact,
Pressure,
Smoothness,
Roughness,
Softness,
Firmness,
Temperature.
No need to name sensations,
But do your best to feel them.
And now you can begin to very slowly shift your weight onto your left foot and then move back to center.
And slowly shift your weight onto your right foot and then come back to center once more.
Shifting slowly from side to side a few times at your own pace,
Seeing if you can be aware of any sensations that are occurring as you make these small movements.
Perhaps sensations of stretching,
Trembling,
Heaviness,
Lightness.
And then coming back to center and standing comfortably for a moment.
And now you can begin walking,
Moving at a normal speed here as you practice paying attention to your feet.
Using the same gentle attention to movement that we just practiced,
Bringing a steadfastness and sensitivity of attention to the physical sensations of your feet touching the ground.
Maintaining a light awareness of what is around you and allowing it to go by as you return your attention over and over to a deeper awareness of the movement of walking.
And when you notice that your mind is wandering,
See if you can gently let go and bring your attention back to the sensations of walking.
Step step step touch touch touch.
And then as you're ready,
Beginning to slow down a bit.
See if you can be aware of what it feels like as you lift your heel,
Lift the whole foot,
Shift your weight,
Move the foot through space.
Seeing what it feels like as your foot touches the ground and your weight shifts once again.
If it's helpful,
You can use a quiet up,
Down,
Up,
Down in your mind.
But keep it in the background so that you maintain a focus on the sensations in your foot and your leg.
And if you find your sense of who you are is again lodged in your head behind your eyes,
Move your attention back down to your feet.
And now you can slow your pace down even more.
So that very mindfully,
You feel your leg moving up,
Forward,
Down,
And then the next leg up,
Forward,
Down.
Seeing if it's possible to finish one step completely before you lift the other foot and shift the weight.
And tuning in to the specific sensations associated with each part of each step.
Opening the heel,
Shifting the weight,
Lifting the whole foot,
Moving it forward,
Placing it on the ground,
Shifting the weight as you lift the other heel,
And repeating the process.
The rhythm of this slow walking is quite different than the way we usually move and it can take some time to get used to.
If you find that you're losing your balance,
You might try speeding up the pace a little.
You can also try speeding the pace if you're having trouble slowing down your mind or focusing on sensations.
And then when you're ready,
See if you can slow down again a little bit.
So practicing in this way as best you can.
Working with your speed to find the pace that best supports your practice.
Most of your attention is on your feet and legs,
But you might want to check in with the rest of your body.
Becoming aware of sensations in your legs,
Your hips,
Your back.
Noticing if there's maybe pressure,
Fluidity,
Stiffness.
No need to name the sensations.
Simply feel your body as best you can.
And noticing here how you're treating yourself.
Are you frustrated?
Are you harsh?
Are you judgmental of your body's natural capabilities and limits?
You don't need to change these thoughts and feelings,
But acknowledge them.
Allowing yourself to change your speed if it's helpful to you.
Knowing what you're doing as you're doing it.
And then bringing your attention back to your feet,
Step by step.
've had your relationship with your organization and the statement of this�.
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