Observation Meditation in an activity - Walking Meditation
There are three different Walking Meditations that teach you to be completely in the NOW during an activity.
During Walking Meditations you Meditate on the activity of walking itself. In other Meditations you can also walk, but then this walking is just a posture just like sitting and the Meditation is focussed on another object of Meditation. It does not matter what you do: if you are completely absorbed by what you are doing and by the sensory sensations that the activity gives you, you will get very relaxed and feel extremely fine. As is the case with all forms of Meditation, we try not to judge, we try not to get angry when things do not go so well and we try not to be too goal-oriented. Let us begin!
Walking Meditation Exercise
| Walking Meditation |
| Kind of Meditation |
Concentration/Focus |
| Degree of difficulty |
both beginners and more advanced students |
| Recommended duration |
5 to 45 minutes |
| Posture |
Walking |
| Advantages |
It improves your concentration.
It makes your mind clear and calm .
It removes feelings of stress.
It teaches you to live in the NOW.
It improves your confidence.
|
| Remark |
This is a concentration exercise, suitable for everyone. It is a good exercise that trains you not only to stay in the NOW during your walking Meditation, but also during ordinary activities. |
A) Just enjoy walking.
When we are tense, irritated or busy we often walk stiffly, quickly and hurriedly. In this Meditation we want to walk pleasantly and most of all comfortably.
- Walk in your usual pace and focus simultaneously on all the sensations that you feel in your body: your breathing, your muscle tension, your posture, your way of walking, aches, every movement and every thought.
- Direct your eyes slantingly on the ground in front of you and look with a "soft" focus so that you will not be distracted by the things around you.
- Take care not to walk automatically without thinking as you usually do and be as aware as possible of everything you do, everything you observe, everything you carry out and everything that takes place inside you.
B) Breathe and walk Meditation
- Walk in a relaxed sort of way as described above. Be aware of every breathing in and breathing out.
- Pay attention to the way you breathe. Is your breathing tense, deep, from your belly or your chest, regular?
- Pay attention to how many steps you need to breathe in and to breathe out. Is there a difference? Generally speaking breathing out takes more time than breathing in.
- Count your steps with every breath and stick to a fixed pattern. For example: three steps to breathe in and four steps to breathe out.
- Let your steps be synchronous with your breathing: breathing in, step one, step two, step three and breathing out, step one, step two, step three, step four.
- Always take your mind back to your breathing and your steps when you notice that you have lost your concentration.
- If you like you can also do the "healing breath" Meditation: 10 steps to breathe in, 10 steps to hold your breath and 10 steps to breathe out.
- Look at breathing Meditations for all the information on the technique
C) Sensory Perception Meditation
-
Walk comfortably as in the Meditations described above and direct your whole attention to one or more senses.
- Focus on all the sounds you hear. What exactly do you hear? What is the intensity of the sound? What different kinds of sound do you hear and what kind of effect has the sound on yourself?
- In the same way you can focus on your sense of feeling. (feel for example the wind) or your sense of smell. What do you smell?
- Be fully present with your senses and if you do this exercise well you can even focus on all your senses at the same time. Then you are completely in the NOW.
- Give each of the things you observe your full attention for a few seconds and go from one thing to another.
- Always go back to your senses and the NOW when you notice that your thoughts wander off to the future or the past. Have fun!
Of course you can also practise all these Meditations during other activities like cycling, swimming, eating, sailing, etcetera. Good luck!
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