Walking Meditation Script

This 5 minute recording will give you the basics for practicing walking meditation. It can be used as an alternative to sitting meditation for when your body needs a break, or for bridging the formal meditative practices with walking in life between two rooms or on a walk to your car or even with your dog. Please listen and then decide how long you wish to practice (between 1 and 30 minutes).

Walking meditation can be done anywhere, inside or outdoors. Choose where you will walk. Many people on retreat or at home choose a pathway that is about 20-30 steps in each direction. (unless you are taking a walk where you want to get somewhere -  the park for example). If you feel you can listen to the instructions and begin, start now or listen to this entire recording and do it after you listen (even a few times)..

Start by standing. Find a position that is, like your sitting posture oriented to grounding and feeling the weight of gravity on your body. Allow yourself to experience a sense of uprightness, alertness also and brightness. Then stand with your chest open and receptive, relax any of your muscles and find inside centered-ness and alignment between your spine, your neck and your head. 

First, your walking pace (for maybe a minute or two) can be somewhat slower than regular walking. Then slow it more so that you feel that you are aware of specifically your body walking. You might notice that you shift your weight first to the leg that is to take a step. That leg and foot lift, usually your heel first and then the toes and it lingers in the the air a second before you place it on the floor. Then you will shift to the other leg. Notice the lifting, and the placing. Shift, lift, place can be a phrase you repeat for a bit.

Rather than focusing externally, focus internally while walking first one way and then back, taking twenty to thirty slow mindful steps in each direction.  You will most likely notice things around you, thoughts about what you see. For example “the windows are quite dirty.. when will we clean them?… who shall I call?”  Or the trash needs emptying or I love the color of our walls. Before you know it, your thoughts have taken you on a nice ride. Come back to the sensation of foot and leg, movement in space. You can have your arms behind your back or by your side. See what feels most natural.

As you finish taking thirty steps or so in one direction, pause, then slowly turn around and recommit to staying present to the changing physical sensations of walking as you set out to take more mindful steps. Keep walking like this, up and down, as a support for present-moment attention.

While walking, finely attune to the sensory experience of your movements, and as your mind drifts, bring your attention back each time to the body. To help sustain attentiveness, focus awareness on the soles of your feet. As each foot moves with each step, feel all the sensations as you lift and place your foot. Attune to the muscles and bones of the feet and legs as you walk. Keep your gaze downward and your attention focused on your physical, bodily experience, no matter what other sights, sounds, people, and objects you may notice. Let your fascination be oriented to your inner world of movement and sensation, rather than to what is around you.

This practices, once developed, will enable you to stay grounded and present in your physical sensory experience as you walk anywhere, such as while shopping, in your home, on a hike, or even at work. They enable you to develop a continuity of mindful attention that’s always accessible. Whenever you walk, simply bring awareness to your physical experience.

Your morning walk to the bus or your daily stroll with the dog could be your new venue for cultivating mindfulness!