(soft music)
- [Instructor] In this mindfulness worksheet,
we'll explore the fundamentals of walking meditation.
Deepening our awareness and our mindfulness
by moving forward, indoors or out, walking.
So before we begin,
just check in with how mindful you've been so far today.
Get grounded in awareness of your hearts, mind.
Your body, your breath.
And aware even of the environment
and the space around you.
Notice right now how your belly, chest,
and head feels just by reflecting upon walking meditation.
Notice any emotions you might associate with these feelings.
And notice too any positive or negative stories
you have regarding walking meditation.
Notice any biases or expectations
that might already be present.
Understand that there's many others
that feel the same way you do,
and understand that all these feelings can change.
So why is it that we chose this topic, walking meditation?
And as we moved through the worksheet,
think too about how you might apply
what it is that you learn here in your day-to-day life.
Walking meditation.
It's not always easy to meditate
in a seated position, right?
And further, the awareness that we do develop
while seated, completely still,
must someday be carried off the cushion
and into every aspect of our lives,
especially if it's going to be effective
in creating positive change.
Because we do not live
and operate seated on our meditation cushions, right?
So by doing simple activities such as mindfully walking,
doing simple things with mindfulness,
we can begin to intentionally integrate
our practice of stillness into our moments of movement.
Mindful movement helps us deepen awareness
of the body itself.
Proprioception, where the body is in space
and awareness of how our body is connected to both the earth
and the elements all around us.
The forward movement of mindful walking
can also be soothing for our minds
that are already addicted to forward movement.
And we notice that even when we're sitting,
especially when we're sitting and trying to be still.
So while meditating while seated can highlight
this ever-present movement of our mind,
it's possible that meditating while moving
can do just the opposite
and show us as we're moving
where stillness is already present.
So we'll take a simple introduction to walking meditation,
and then we'll answer a few questions
to help deepen awareness of our experience.
So if it's safe to do so
or especially if you're indoors,
you might even remove your shoes
to deepen awareness of the connection
between your body and the ground.
We'll find an open and quiet space
in which you can move around comfortably,
relatively free from distractions.
Choose to follow a particular path ahead of time,
or you might just set a timer.
Five minutes, 10 minutes or more.
And then close your eyes
and spend a few moments just standing,
both feet firmly planted on the earth.
Notice the connection between your feet and the earth.
Perhaps playing around in
a little side to side shifting of the weight,
or a little front to back.
Notice the energy that is rooting, grounding down.
And equally the energy that you get back from the earth,
this feeling of an upward lift, a growing taller.
Check in with your breath
perhaps as you're still standing here relatively still.
And turn inward towards the body.
Towards the body, perhaps with extra attention
and awareness of the low body,
the legs, and the feet.
As you're ready, open your eyes.
And with the gaze still soft or aimed down,
downward gaze to help free you from distraction,
very slowly, slow motion,
begin to walk forward.
As you walk forward,
stay aware of each part of the process of walking.
The shifting of the weight.
Lifting the foot.
Moving forward.
Placing the foot.
And pressing down again.
Stay focused on the feet
and the low body in this process of moving forward.
And stay open, noticing whatever arises
in body and in the mind.
Feel free to hit pause on this video
and take a little more time exploring.
And then as you're ready,
come back to standing stable.
Perhaps a few moments with eyes closed again,
checking in with how you feel right now.
And then slowly open your eyes.
So let's review, and again feel free to hit pause
anytime you need to if you'd like
to spend more time contemplating
or writing things down.
But begin by describing your experience
in general with the walking meditation.
What did it feel like at the start
to connect to the body while standing still
with the eyes still closed?
And then as you opened your eyes again, what changed?
If anything, what change?
And then as you began this process of moving,
as you moved from standing to walking,
what changed then, if anything?
And as you focus more intently on the movement of the body,
how did that change the way in which you moved?
Of course, we're walking slowly,
so that's going to be different
from our normal mode of walking.
But how did applying awareness to walking
change the way you walked?
And what do you think the difference is
between lifting the foot
and awareness of lifting the foot?
And is there a difference?
Does the intent to lift the foot
play a role in the lifting of the foot?
And when lifting the foot,
at what point does the little lifting process end
and the placing process begin?
No right or wrong to any of these questions.
What do you think?
Are there moments of stillness
within the activity of walking?
And if so, what were they,
and where did you feel stillness
while in the process of walking?
Did you find that physically moving forward
helped your mind to remain focused?
Or was it more challenging?
And you can answer this perhaps in relation
to your seated meditation practice
or in relation to nothing,
just what was your experience with this walking meditation?
What did you find
was the most challenging part of walking meditation?
And as you practice staying mindful while walking,
where else do you think you might apply
this steady mindfulness as you move throughout your day?
And you might take these questions
into your next meditation.
And the next time you try walking meditation,
contemplate some of the things that we just reviewed here.
So let's review.
When we apply mindfulness,
even a routine activity as simple as walking
offers us endless insight into the body, the mind,
and the nature of reality itself, right?
When we apply mindfulness,
even just brushing our teeth for example
can teach us infinite things about how our mind
and awareness is operating.
On a gross level,
the forward momentum of walking
is very soothing for the mind.
And at a more detailed, subtle level
by intentionally placing our calm, spacious mind,
mindful awareness on the process of walking,
we become aware of much more
than just the movement itself, right?
We understand much more
than just more about the process of walking.
The process of walking teaches us things.
We learn for example to break down
to what we initially perceive as one thing into many things.
For example, this process of stepping forward with a foot.
We think of a step forward as one thing.
But then we can begin to break that down
and become aware of this process of the lifting,
the moving through space, the placing, right?
We can experience this process
and experience this concept of impermanence itself.
We become aware for example
of the interplay between form and space
as we explore the connection between body and earth.
How the body moves from the earth
and then returns back to it again,
or explore how it is that the body is moving through space.
And the mind becomes more self-aware as we watch ourselves
watching each step of the process.
So this simple activity of walking,
something that we do each and every day,
can offer us infinite, infinite insight to our minds
and how the mind operates,
and insight into reality itself
as soon as we apply mindful awareness.
So try it again with walking
or try applying mindful awareness
to any of your daily activities,
and see what it is that you notice.