If your idea of meditation is sitting cross-legged with your eyes closed and practicing deep breathing exercises, perhaps it’s time to expand your viewpoint to include walking meditation. As the name suggests, walking meditation involves motion, and ideally, a person can practice it when he or she is going about his or her everyday life without having to specifically pause and make a point of meditating.
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Like traditional meditation, walking meditation focuses on being aware of the present moment and showing appreciation for it. When a person is first learning walking meditation, it’s common to practice it in a place that’s naturally tranquil, such as a garden or a monastery. Keep reading to learn about why walking meditation is so worthwhile and worthy of adding to your routine.
Focusing On The Experience Of Moving Through Space
No matter what kind of meditation you practice, one of the main goals is usually to quiet the mind and avoid dwelling on the past or worrying about the future. With walking meditation, a practitioner avoids letting the mind wander and instead hones in on what it feels like to walk. By concentrating on tiny factors such as the pressure of each foot touching the ground, the sound of each footfall, and the tenseness and relaxation of muscles as he or she completes each step, a person learns to settle his or her mind and in turn become much more aware of surroundings.
What To Do When Your Mind Wanders
Even the most skillful walking meditators find from time to time that it is difficult to stay fully focused on the elements of moving through space. If you find your focus slipping a bit, don’t panic. Instead, just allow that distracted state to occur, but try to disconnect yourself from it rather than getting absorbed in it. As quickly as possible, coax yourself to return your attention to the act of walking and being aware of the various characteristics of it. Whenever you’re dealing with a wandering mind, it’s extremely important not to become too judgmental over what you may perceive as a shortcoming. Walking meditation takes practice, and if your focus slips occasionally, that’s to be expected. Treat it as part of the learning process and regain your more-aware state as soon as possible rather than beating yourself up over what may seem like a failure.
Getting The Hang Of Things
As you get better and better at walking meditation, you should find it’s possible to observe thoughts, regrets, doubts and any other emotions that enter your mind but not identify with them. You’ll be able to notice that they are there without allowing yourself to become attached to them. When that happens, you’ll be able to enter and retain a more peaceful state of being that transcends many of the stressful things that may be going on in your life.
Walking Meditation Wherever You Go
Perhaps one of the greatest advantages of making walking meditation a part of your life is that you’ll theoretically be able to do it wherever you are. Even though many people start doing walking 
meditation in a place that is peaceful by nature, it’s usually possible to reach the inner calmness whether you are walking to work during your morning commute, or even walking through a busy office building to deliver something to a coworker. The mental clarity achieved by walking meditation can help you keep your cool during hectic situations, especially once you learn to embrace the bliss that accompanies it. Life is stressful and can often seem completely outside the realm of our control. However, walking meditation helps us to harness a bit of control that allows us to feel internally relaxed, even when everything that surrounds us is chaotic.
