Welcome to the next section of our practice and just like a little girl who turns around and says enthusiastically to her mum,
Can we go and buy some beans down the road mum and some sausages,
Go for a little walk.
Completely,
Naturally,
Without anxiety,
Just enjoying the action of walking.
So,
Headlines today.
I'm going to ask you to find that enthusiasm and little bubbling brook within yourself as we begin on our walking meditation.
And I suggest that you do this out in outside.
Take your headphones,
Put them in your ears in a really lovely,
Delightful park or wood,
Your back garden,
Somewhere which you really enjoy being in.
I'm indebted to the Zen monks in Kyoto and to the Soto Zen practice here in the UK for allowing me to walk with them on many occasions.
So,
It's also lovely to walk with someone or with a group and this can be very satisfying in silence.
So,
If you're in your special place and have some nice comfortable shoes and are correctly dressed for the weather,
Whether it be a blustery winter day or a lovely sunny afternoon.
Just familiarize yourself with your surroundings and very slowly walk around with as much awareness as you can of what's around you.
Gently focusing on perhaps some flowers or some area of interest which you can sort of walk towards and simply look at,
Appreciate,
Spend a little longer than you may normally would.
Definitely turning your mobile phone onto silent,
Giving yourself 10 minutes or so of uninterrupted space.
So,
Just begin by walking.
That's the instruction.
And to do this I'm going to ask you to turn your attention inwards again,
But this time the practice for now is with your eyes open and just feel your body coming to rest in a standing position.
Your feet balanced on the ground,
Your spine erect and if you want to stretch a bit,
Stretch your arms up and then allow them to return to their sides and loosen your neck and your shoulders.
Maybe have a few little hip wiggles just to feel free as you can.
And feel the weight in your feet now and just start to walk slowly on the ground with no purpose or objective or anywhere to get to.
You're just walking.
One foot in front of the other with your attention in your feet.
With your awareness just notice how your body changes balance from one leg to the other and slow down the walking pace to almost standing.
Just noticing the weight in your feet being transferred from one leg to another.
Slowly feeling the transition of the weight through your body.
Being aware of this amazing body staying balanced and moving you through space on the ground all by itself automatically.
So now as you slow down just be aware of how the heel touches the ground and the weight moves into the toes very gently as you shift through from one leg to the other.
How your calves and thighs muscles are moving and the center of gravity seems to shift naturally forwards.
You might notice that your legs are bent a little bit more than normal as your balance will become more and more into your awareness.
Your breathing slows down and your eyes become perhaps a little less focused and you can just allow them to gaze wherever they be perhaps a little to the floor about three feet in front of you.
The gaze is wide and relaxed without focusing on anything in particular just you walking slowly.
Feeling the ground is it rough grass tarmac where you've chosen to do this practice.
Just feeling the weather whether it be sunny windy rainy.
Hearing the sounds of nature birds dogs other human beings cars lorries and of course that beyond that silence.
So just spend maybe five minutes or so just walking in your favorite place and you can turn your phone iPhone or whatever off now.
Listening to the silence and noises in the location you've chosen.
Well I hope you've enjoyed this walking meditation from headlines and feel relaxed energized and ready to continue your walk through life in an aware relaxed and peaceful state and we wish you well.
