Walking Meditation

I am aware of the beauty all around me.

This is a walking meditation.

This meditation is most effective done when out in nature but can be done indoors on a treadmill or somewhere where you have space to walk around and are able to utilize your mind with the tool of visualization.

The intention for this meditation is to quiet your mind and connect with your body.

The affirmation we will use is I am aware of the beauty all around me.

We're gonna begin by standing still,

Standing up nice and tall almost as though a string,

Visualizing a string coming out of the top of your head,

Pulling you up,

Straightening your body,

And just seeing if you can feel soft in the front of your body and strong and supported in the back.

Feeling your feet planted on the ground and we're going to take a few deep breaths,

Breathing in through the nose and exhaling gently out of the mouth.

Beautiful.

We're going to do that a few more times and this time bringing a little bit of force,

A little bit of power behind that exhale.

So breathing in through the nose,

Exhaling.

Beautiful.

Just like that a couple more times,

Sighing it out,

Seeing if you can release a little bit of tension in your body,

Softening your shoulders,

Softening your jaw,

Softening your belly,

And just landing here,

Coming into the present moment,

Letting those breaths go and just noticing your breath,

Noticing the rising and falling of your chest,

Noticing the rising and falling of your belly,

And perhaps noticing your heartbeat.

So just taking a moment here to connect with yourself,

To connect with what is here.

And now we're going to stretch the body just a little bit,

Bringing your arms up over your head,

Reaching your fingers up to the sky,

Feeling a nice stretch through your entire body,

And then slowly and gently letting your arms fall down to your sides.

And now we're going to bring the breath in,

We're going to inhale,

Reach the arms up,

Stretching up,

Getting the body long and tall,

Reaching up to the sky,

And then with the exhale you're just going to let the front of your body just topple over,

Bringing your fingers down to the earth,

Keeping your legs nice and strong,

Yet also soft,

Slight bend in your knees,

Stretching the back of your legs,

Just letting the top of your body just hang,

Letting it be heavy,

Taking a couple rounds of breath here and just noticing if anything wants to just fall forward,

Just slide right off of you.

Inhaling and exhaling,

Letting something go.

Letting your body roll up nice and slow,

Allowing your spine to roll up one vertebrae at a time,

And then bringing your hands to your heart,

To the center of your body,

Taking one more deep breath in,

One more big exhale out.

Beautiful.

Bringing your arms back down to your side and we're going to slowly begin to walk,

Focusing first only on your footsteps,

Counting your footsteps as you walk.

One,

Five,

Noticing that the pace of my counting is quite slow,

Seeing if you can slow your body down,

Seeing if you can walk slower than you're used to,

And just slowing everything way down,

Coming back to counting your footsteps,

One,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

And repeating the affirmation.

If your mind begins to wander or there's a part of you that just wants to speed up,

Just reminding yourself,

I am aware of the beauty all around me.

And as you walk nice and slow,

Just continuing to cycle your breath,

Maybe you're breathing in and out through your nose,

Inhaling in slowly,

Exhaling out slowly,

Or simply just breathing in a way that feels good.

Noticing how your footsteps sound as they touch the earth beneath you,

Feeling your heels as they make contact with the ground,

And feeling your toes as they propel you forward with each step.

Just really noticing that contact,

Noticing the movement,

The bottom of the foot with the ground beneath you.

Maybe there's a crunching sound,

Maybe there's a bit of a pounding with each step.

Just notice what you hear as you continue to walk.

Maybe noticing any other sounds you hear.

Are there birds singing?

Are there animals moving busily around you?

Maybe there's cars driving by.

Maybe you notice the wind rustling through the trees.

Just as you walk slowly and gently,

Just noticing what you hear.

Now beginning to look around you.

What do you see?

What do you see in this place?

Maybe you notice the colors of the nature around you,

Noticing the vibrancy of those colors,

Of the shapes of the forms that you see.

Seeing if you can bring forward a beginner's mind,

Perhaps noticing these beings,

Noticing what is right in front of you in a new way.

Seeing something through clear eyes,

Maybe noticing something you never have before.

Maybe you bring your body toward or close to some being in front of you.

Are there any intricate details you can take a moment to notice with your eyes?

Noticing the patterns,

Noticing the light and the shadows,

Noticing the depth of what is around you.

Continuing to slowly and gently move your breath through.

On your next cycle of breath,

On your next inhale,

Just noticing what the air of this place smells like.

Seeing if you can deepen your breath here,

Really bringing in the scent of this place.

Reminding yourself that you are becoming so aware of what is all around you.

I am aware of the beauty all around me.

I'm noticing it with my sense of smell.

Now on your next breath in,

This time opening your breathing in through your mouth and just tasting the air.

Tasting the air in this place,

Noticing what it tastes like as those particles land on the taste buds of your tongue.

Maybe you notice the temperature of the air as it comes into your mouth,

As it moves into your body,

And then maybe noticing the temperature of the air as it comes back out.

What does this place taste like?

Starting to really slow down the pace of your walk and eventually coming to a stop.

Stopping here for just a moment,

Bending down,

Placing your hands,

Your palms,

Your fingertips out on the earth.

What do you notice when you touch the earth,

When you make that physical contact between your hands and the ground beneath you?

Maybe seeing if you can feel the heartbeat.

Seeing if you can feel the vibration of the ground that so steadily supports you.

Taking this moment to breathe with the earth,

To connect with the pulse of nature.

Maybe you take a moment here to deepen your breath,

To really feel that sense of grounding and support come into your body.

Swirl around you,

Remind you of the stability that you're feeling by the support of the earth,

But that you can also access within yourself.

Maybe feeling the oneness between you and the earth,

Between you and all of the beings that surround you.

I am aware of the beauty all around me.

What is the texture of the ground?

What does it feel like?

Is it wet?

Is it dry?

Is it soft?

Is it hard and frozen?

Maybe you pick up a rock or a stick or a leaf or even just some soil and begin to rub it between your fingers,

Rub it between your hands.

Just allowing yourself to really feel the texture,

The form,

The beingness of this,

Of whatever it is that you're holding.

Noticing the details,

Maybe noticing what you see with your eyes while also feeling with your hands.

Slowly and gently coming back to standing and beginning to walk again.

Keeping your pace nice and slow,

Becoming aware of your footsteps,

Continuing to notice what you see,

Noticing what you feel drawn to,

Going toward that,

Following your heart,

Noticing the smells,

The tastes,

Noticing how the air feels as it moves over your body and into your body through your breath.

You are deeply aware of the beauty all around you.

You are so aware,

So present and deeply interconnected to all that surrounds you.

You are one with all of these beings.

Nature is outside of you and also within you.

You are nature.

Just continuing to walk slowly,

Continuing to breathe,

Allowing yourself to soak it all in,

To let it all land.

Taking a couple more deep breaths in,

Breathing in through the nose,

Exhaling out of the mouth.

Beginning again to slow the pace of your walking,

Eventually coming to a stop and noticing how it feels to go from moving to being still.

Maybe slowly tilting your head back and looking up,

And maybe tilting your head down and looking down,

Moving your head to one side and then the other.

Noticing how relaxed,

Yet alert and refreshed,

Maybe even invigorated you feel.

Just taking a moment to thank the nature,

The beings that showed up for you today,

That surround you,

That invited you into presence,

Into connection.

Maybe bringing your hands to your heart or your hands to your belly,

Thanking yourself for taking this time to drop into presence.

Thanking your body for the gift of movement,

Thanking your breath for always being here,

Just saying to yourself,

Thank you.

I love you.

Thank you.

I love you.

I'm going to end this meditation now,

But I invite you to continue to make your way through whatever environment you find yourself in,

Moving slowly,

Moving intentionally,

Connecting through all of your senses,

Feeling the sense of aliveness and connection,

And just being open to what wants to present itself to you.

Thank you.

Have a beautiful day.

Sending you so much love.