Walking Meditation how to do it: Give yourself 10-20 minutes to do the following
• Step outside the door and walk steadily and deliberately, focusing your attention on your foot as it touches the ground.
• Relax your body and your shoulders, allowing your arms to swing naturally
• As you shift your weight forward, transfer your attention to the other foot, noticing how this touches the ground and your weight is transferred.
• Again, as you move forwards, shift your attention gently to the next step.
• If your thoughts begin to wander, acknowledge whatever thought appears in your mind, but then gently redirect your attention to your feet.
• If you are in a busy environment or near a road, do of course pay attention to what is going on around you to some extent, but keep the steady rhythm of walking at the forefront of your mind.
• After 10 minutes or so, you will fi nd that your mind has begun to clear and that you are feeling more relaxed.
Walking facts
Composer J S Bach once walked 260 miles to hear famous organist Buxtehude perform. The 20-year-old then walked back car r ying manuscr ipt copies he had made of the organist’s playing.
has been taken to an extreme in the meditations of Buddhists, who use steady pacing to slow the mind and disentangle it from the “veil of illusion” they believe brings human suffering. Walking meditation is used by many Buddhists to reach mindfulness - a calm and relaxed awareness that is detached from deep emotions.
Whether you walk for fi tness, for enjoyment, or sociability, for nature appreciation - or to write a masterpiece, the great advantage of walking is that you just have to step outside your door. Of course, it is wonderful to walk in the countryside, but a decent pair of shoes and the right clothes mean you can enjoy this health-giving pastime anywhere. So, the next time you consider jumping in the car to take a 5 minute journey, think again.
None other than the great poet
William Wordsworth found a walk in
the countryside a powerful tonic for composing poems.
George Meegan is famous for his unbroken walk of the entire Western Hemisphere with no special equipment and fi nancial backing. His self-published book, The Longest Walk: The Record of Our World’s First Crossing of the Entire Americas, tells of the entire voyage from Tierra del Fuego, South America in 1977 to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska in 1983. He concluded his walk to Barrow in 2002 summing up the total distance of his journey to 19, 0919 miles in 2,425 days.
Brisk walking is good for the heart and for stamina, while walking with care and attention with a slow steady movement is helpful to building mental focus.