Walking Meditation

Hi. I'm Kia. Welcome to practice. Today, we're gonna do one of my favorites, which is a walking meditation. I say that, but you could also be doing this washing dishes, folding laundry, brushing your teeth, walking to work. In any movement, this practice is here to support your present moment awareness. So we'll start standing.

I'm starting with my feet about hip distance apart, and you might even bend your knees a little bit. It could be a little bit of bouncing to feel the pressure, the weight, the contact, with whatever you're standing on? Should feel stable, balanced, steady. And then go ahead and just shift your weight over to the right foot and notice that. And then lift your left foot up and just place the heel down first.

And then the balls of the foot, big toe ball, baby toe ball, and then the toes. And shift your weight to the left foot. And just feel how the body moves, what compensates, lift up your right foot, place the heel down first, the balls of the foot, big toe ball, baby toe ball, and then the toes. And you're ready to start walking. So begin to move walking in a very natural way.

You're picking a pace that is comfortable, not trying to slow walk, Sometimes that can feel a little precarious. You could be walking quickly or leisurely. Begin to let your mind drop down into the feeling of your feet. The shifting of weight. Your hands can be in front of you clasped behind you.

They could be moving at your sides. And then also sense the environment that you're in. Wherever you are, you might be inside at home or walking through the street, or outside in a garden. And if you are outside and have the capacity to take out one of your earbuds do that. And listen.

Listen to the environment that you're in. One of the keys to mindfulness is an awareness of what's happening. And so often, we are listening, but not aware that hearing is happening. If you are in a closed space and you come to the wall or the end of the space, you could stop, do standing meditation, take a breath, reconnect to the ground, then turn around and again, stop, feel, breathe, and proceed. And you can also notice that you're seeing That site is happening.

So oftentimes, we are looking and not aware that we're seeing this great gift. Feel your breath, this very basic fundamental way of being human moving through space. Listening and knowing we're hearing, seeing, and aware that we have sight walking and feeling that we're moving, breathing, Most of our life is spent getting somewhere. Goal oriented. The idea of walking meditation is that we're going nowhere.

Just using the movement as another way of connecting to this very moment. What it feels like on the skin, the temperature, maybe there's elements wind, sun, cold, touching the skin, You can also notice that there are thoughts happening Mine states, emotions, just like the landscape moving by you, These thoughts and emotions can appear and disappear. Moving past the sight line the consciousness, awareness, What's it like right now? What's it sound like? Don't worry if your mindfulness appears and disappears.

This is natural. In every moment of awareness, awareness, I'm here walking, is really a moment of mindfulness. The more we do it, the more natural it becomes. What's it like with the tongue in the mouth? The feeling in the jaw, the lips, Sometimes if we're walking in a busy place where there are other people, We can notice judgements coming up about them or us.

You might drop in Kind, warm phrases, meta, meditation, may you be happy? To each person you pass, may you be happy? We think, why is this person walking so fast? May you be happy? Did I call them? Am I doing? May you be happy? May I be happy? The present moment is a feeling.

We're not thinking about it. We're just trying to really sense it. What's this step like? What's this breath like? Each one unique.

It helps to slow the mind down coming into the body. The mind can time travel When we're sitting in meditation, we've already gotten up and gone to the next place. When we're moving to go to the next place, we've already arrive there. Bringing the mind into this slowness of the body, even if you're walking quickly, is a way of quieting and calming the mind. The very formal practice of walking meditation follows a very simple awareness.

Lifting the foot, moving, placing, lifting, moving, placing, And you can explore what's it like to slow it down or speed it up. The Buddha said there are 4 formal postures for meditating. Lying down, sitting, standing, and walking. So please don't disregard this practice as anything less precious or important. Then perhaps our idea of what meditation looks like. You might also think about the people who have walked before you the people who you walk with.

All the places you have gone. How this touching the earth massaging the earth, appreciating the support of the earth. Can reconnect us to what really matters. Can keep walking for as long as feels good to you. And when it's time when you feel ready to stop, take a moment, and do standing practice, to feel your feet, your breath, your heart.

Sometimes it's nice to touching either hands together or one hand on the heart, one hand on the belly to close to signal some sweet end. Thanks for trying this with me. May you walk in peace?