While you’ll be walking much farther than 40 feet, the purpose of choosing a short, predetermined path, is that when you pace the same route back and forth, it requires almost no thought on where to go next and it minimizes the chances that you’ll encounter something in your way. I recommend finding a walking path that is short-about 40 feet long-in a place without distraction or traffic (a park would be ideal). Walking meditations can be anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour.
How to Get Started With Walking Meditation Set a peaceful tone for the remainder of the evening with a post-dinner mindful walk around the block. After Dinner: Any movement is helpful after a big meal, even if you’re walking slow.Walking meditation can change your perspective and help you separate work from home life. After Work: Release the day with a walk.Lunch Break: Moving your body is a great way to fight the mid-day slump and reset for the afternoon.If you’re not an early bird, walking anytime before work will energize you for the day ahead. There aren’t many interruptions and you are likely not expected to be anywhere else in life. Before Sunrise: The energy outside before daybreak is quiet and still.When you’re first starting out, it’s a good idea to set aside a window of time and specific location to practice walking meditation. We spend so much time in our lives walking-walking meditation is a powerful way to transform something we do every day into a mindful, peaceful experience. This can be an incredibly powerful practice in concentration and one-pointed attention.Īs you practice during specific periods of time dedicated to walking meditation, you’ll find that you’ll begin to transform the steps you take during other times of the day, too. Walking meditation encourages us to root our attention into our physical body, one step at a time. Improves Concentration: It’s no secret that it can be difficult to focus on one thing at a time in our fast-paced culture.Convenient: One great thing about walking meditations is that they can be integrated into your day, when you would normally be walking anyway … you can turn a simple and necessary walk from the parking garage to your office into a mindfulness practice.Walking during lunch or after work can be helpful to break the pattern of sitting in a desk all day. Energizing: Walking first thing in the morning is a great way to wake up the body and mind to get you ready for the day.
Walking meditations can provide the same benefits as seated meditations-present moment awareness, relaxation, stress-reduction, focus-but in a different way. Walking meditation is an opportunity to do just the opposite-think of walking meditation as a slow stroll without any other purpose or destination except to stroll-and be with any experiences that come up while putting one foot in front of the other. We spend too much of our time rushing from point A to point B. Walking meditation is a great way to anchor your attention into your physical body and slow down your mind and movements.
As the weather warms up and spring edges in, it’s the perfect time to take your mindfulness practice outside.