Do you want to practice meditation but cannot sit still for a length of time in silence? If so, try walking meditation. Find your favorite guided walking meditation scripts here.
Introduction
When we talk about meditation, most people think it is about sitting still and being silent with their eyes shut. While it is true that this is also meditation, there are other techniques to entering meditation. Some meditation techniques involve gazing at something, such as Trataka, while others involve movement, such as walking meditation. If you are the type of person who cannot sit still, you can hack your way into mindfulness through mindful walking.
Walking Meditation is a Key to Mindfulness
Walking is something many of us do as a chore. You do it on your way to your car or from the parking lot to your office.
It is easy to let your consciousness wander away from your movements when walking. Because it is almost instinctive, walking can effectively get your cardio while decluttering your mind when you think about it.
Walking, like breathing, can cause a surge in electrical activity in the brain. It can also give you the “aha” or “lightbulb” moment. Because you do not have to make a conscious effort to do it, you can enter a mindful state where creativity can start sparking.
But, the idea of walking to declutter the mind is not perfect. Because the mind wanders while walking, you can just as easily get caught up in a loop of negative thoughts. To avoid this, you must learn to direct the mind by bringing mindfulness into your walking.
Principle of Walking Meditation
Walking is a great way to declutter the mind through mindfulness. When you walk mindfully, you become more aware of what is happening around you and inside you instead of thinking about where you are going. To get the best out of walking, here are some walking meditation principles to follow:
Move Slowly and Maintain Awareness
When doing a walking meditation, maintain awareness of each step you take. For example, notice how each footstep rolls from the heel to the toe. Notice also which muscles, joints, and tendons you use when stepping forward. Furthermore, notice movements and muscles from other parts of your body.
Use Your Five Senses
Pay attention to what your senses of sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste pick up. Then, ask yourself the following questions:
- What do you see? Maybe you can see leaves falling from the trees or the rays of the sun breaking through the trees. Notice the color, texture, and movement of what you can see while maintaining a soft gaze.
- What do you hear? Maybe you can listen to birds chirping or the footsteps of other people walking.
- What do you smell? Maybe you can smell the flowers around you or the breeze.
- What do you taste? Maybe the residual taste of the last morsel you ate or the beverage you drank.
- What do you feel? Notice the feeling of each stride you take and how your feet land on the ground. You may also notice the air blowing into your face as you walk.
Breath Easily
Since this is a walking meditation, you do not need to focus all your attention on your breath. Instead of being conscious of how you breathe and controlling it, just let the breath flow normally.
Maintain Compassion and Non-Attachment
As soon as you notice your mind wandering away from your walking meditation, bring your awareness back to your walking again. Do not get attached to perfection or think your mind will not stray. It will. When you judge your thoughts, give yourself compassion and come back to mindfully walking again.
Various Guided Walking Meditations
You can approach walking meditation in various ways. The above are just basic principles. Once you know them, you can practice the guides on your own. If you choose this approach, here are some effective techniques you can do:
Body Awareness During Mindful Walking
The walking meditation technique is based on the Body Awareness Walking Technique of Dr. Christopher Willard.
Here’s how to do this Mindful Walking Technique
- Begin by standing on your two feet. Notice how the soles of your feet feel inside your shoes. Then after a while, start walking.
- After 20 steps, bring your attention up to your ankles and calves. Notice how the calves contract slightly with each step. Continue walking.
- After a few moments of walking, bring your awareness to your knees as you bend them to walk forward. Do you feel any tension? Do you hear your knees clicking as you move?
- Now, shift your attention to your hips. Notice the sensations you feel and your hip’s movements as you walk.
- Begin to bring your attention to your arms and hands. Become aware of where your arms fall as you walk. Do they fall to your sides? Are your arms swinging as you walk?
- Shift your awareness to your torso. As you walk, notice if your chest expands and rises.
- After a few moments, shift your attention to your neck and shoulders. Are your neck and shoulders relaxed as you walk? Or are your shoulders raised towards your ears?
- Lastly, bring your attention to your head. Does your head tilt to one side or bob up and down as you walk?
Continue scanning your body and taking notes of how your sensations change as you walk.
Emotional Guided Mindful Walking
This technique of mindful walking focuses on your emotions. To do this while walking, notice what emotions you feel when walking alone or when people are walking close to you. Furthermore, see how it feels when you greet people or when people greet you while walking. What emotions come up when you walk with your back rounded and when you are walking with a good posture? This mindful walking technique will heighten your self-consciousness.
30-Minute Script for Guided Walking Meditation
If you have 30 minutes to spare for walking meditation, this one is for you. I appreciate that this guide focuses on relaxing the body before starting the walk. I also love that the guide gives you some moments of silence for yourself.
10-Minutes Guided Walking Meditation for Yourself
This guided meditation for walking focuses on self-love. So, this guide is for you if you struggle to give yourself kindness, grace, and love.
Guided Walking Meditation for 60-Minutes
This video is a 60-minute guided walking meditation. So, make sure you have enough time for it. Since it is long, this guide includes a pre-warm-up, which I appreciate very much. I also love that the guide walks you through positive affirmations and talks about emotional healing.
15-Minutes Script for Guided Walking Meditation
This is another short walking meditation script you can follow. I love using this for a quick lunch break walk by the park close to my office. It is a short walking guided meditation. But it allows you to explore on your own.
The Bottomline
You can apply mindfulness to anything you do, including walking. If you know well enough that when you sit, you will start to fidget, then walking meditation is for you.
Are you looking to take your mindfulness practice to a new level? Then join our Free 30-Day Meditation challenge followed by our 200Hrs TTC Course and find new techniques to become more mindful!
