Walking Meditation

The Meditation Newsletter

Walking meditation is a great example of how different techniques work better or worse for different people. Some people really enjoy a good walking meditation, while some find it too difficult or even irritating. In any case, it won't hurt you to try it once or twice, to see if you might benefit from it.

Mindfulness

Many experienced meditators use walking meditation as a simple way to bring awareness into their lives. It is a mindfulness exercise more than anything.

To do it, you simply walk, focusing your attention on each foot as it touches the ground. Your mind will wander, as usual, but you just keep bringing it back to your feet and legs, and the feeling of your whole body moving. If you find that it is difficult to walk in a normal rhythm while watching yourself so closely, just keep walking anyhow.

It helps if you don't look around. Keep your gaze in front of you, and keep your concentration on the experience of walking. You can include awareness of your breathing in that experience, but stay "tuned in" to your feet touching the ground, and the sensations of your legs moving.

Do this walking meditation for ten minutes or more. Walk in an area where you are not likely to be interrupted. If you can't find a place outdoors, you can walk up and down a long hallway, or back and forth in a room.

Mindfulness exercises or meditations like this will make it clear that nothing is quite as simple as it seems. This is certainly true for walking. Even if you just "go out for a walk," do you ever just walk? If you are like most of us, your mind is somewhere else, absorbed with a dozen thoughts.

By paying attention to the experience of walking itself, you re-connect with your body and the world from which your busy mind is so often drawing you away. Give it a try.

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Steve