You may, as I do, enjoy going for a walk. I remember one time when I was stressed about something I told my husband that I was going to take the dog for a walk. Thinking that maybe I felt pressure to add dog walking to my to do list, he looked up at me and said. “The dog doesn’t have to go for a walk.” And I said, “No, but I do!”
But going for a walk is not the same as a walking meditation. When I go for a walk on a nice day, I have a destination, or a distance in mind. And while I walk, I just let my mind wander. I might enjoy the weather, the scenery, the companionship of my dogs, or just the break from what I was doing before.
But a walking meditation is different. You are not walking to get anywhere. You are also not just letting the mind wander, although it might just the way it does in seated meditation. You are walking to still the mind. All meditation techniques have a similar goal: to train the mind to not be distracted.
When you sit to meditate, you tune out the outside world and you have something to focus on: your breath, a mantra, a candle flame, a personal deity… And you know that when you sit to meditate, your mind resists. But, that is the practice, to train the mind to focus on one thing and stay with it.
In walking meditation, the focus is on the placing and the lifting of the feet. For some people, walking meditation is easier because they get uncomfortable when they sit. At least in a walking meditation, there is something to do.
When choosing a place for your walking meditation it is nice to have a clearly defined space. You only need about 10 feet of space. In my video, I have 13 feet between the two walls. But you could have more. If you have less than 10 feet you might get dizzy because you will feel as if you are constantly turning around. You could use your driveway, or an empty tennis court, or the space between two trees. Any space will do.
You start and walk towards one end, pause, turn around and walk the other way, pause and repeat. Pausing at each end is just like pausing at the top of an inhalation or exhalation the way you do when you are watching your breath in a seated meditation.
Focus your attention on the lifting of the one foot, the shifting of the weight and the placing of the other foot. The pace is slower than regular walking as you are not trying to get anywhere. Walking faster won’t get you there sooner. So, just enjoy the process. I usually set my watch for 20 minutes and walk until the timer goes off.
If your mind wanders, just bring it back to feeling the lifting and placing of each foot. It is common to feel a little off balance while doing a walking meditation, but you will get used to the slower pace. And you might even experience your mind slowing down, too.
According to the Yoga Sutras, “Yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind.” The stilling is both the path and the goal of yoga. Yoga is to still the thought waves of the mind. Yoga is to bring a natural quiet to the mind and bod so that we can see clearly. It is in this stillness that opens a doorway in the mind, a doorway into your capital “S” Self. You can’t find this stillness by thinking, this ensnares us more deeply, fighting is counterproductive, the force of will is of limited value, power is also counter-productive and knowledge for its own sake has limited value. The only way is to get quiet and find stillness.
Perhaps this walking meditation will help you find some stillness, peace and tranquility.