Walking Meditation – Clear Your Mind with Movement

The following is a guest blog post written by Angie Picardo

Walking Meditation

Are you interested in learning about meditation but want an alternative to the sitting form? An easy option to conventional sitting down meditation is a walking one. The fast-paced patterns in our 24-hour news cycle and work-focused society make it extraordinarily challenging to maintain a balanced, healthy lifestyle. Although some people are aware of the practice of meditation and its benefits, many of us are unfamiliar with walking meditation. Because our minds are overloaded by information and quick transitions from one activity to another, it is difficult to calm the mind. Here’s an explanation of how walking meditation may be more effective and how you can benefit from it.

GENERAL HEALTH BENEFITS OF MEDITATION

Regardless of what kind of meditation you do, the benefits will help you in your daily stress by calming the restless mind, coping with depression and attain a renewed perspective. Meditation also helps in the digestion of food and can greatly aid with the healing process of many diseases such as cancer.

SITTING DOWN AFTER SITTING DOWN

For some people, the thought of sitting meditation may not sound good after a long day of work doing nothing physical but sitting. Walking meditation is more beneficial in this case because of the physical element. It helps you regulate your breathing as you do with sitting meditation and works well in combination with sitting or standing meditation. It is recommended that you practice the same length of time for each session. For example, 10 minutes of walking meditation should be followed with 10 minutes of sitting meditation.

WALKING MEDITATION IS NOT WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE

Walking meditation is not the same as going for a walk. You will need to find a path or designated area about 20 yards in length. It can be outdoors or inside depending on where you are most relaxed, without distractions such as your backyard. Starting out at 15-30 minutes per session is sufficient. You can go longer as you progress. Ideally, you should try to do this without wearing shoes if you can safely. Here are the basic steps:

1. Take small, slow steps acknowledging each one. Softly say the words “stepping left”, “stepping right”, “standing”, etc. At the end of your path, turn slowly and repeat. Hold your hands together in a relaxed position in front or behind your body, as you feel most comfortable.
2. Keep your eyes open, looking in the area on the path 2 yards in front of you.
3. Concentrate on relaxing the body and emptying your mind of stressful thoughts and problems.

It’s important that stay on same path because it will have an impact on the meditation itself. The key is to allow the mind to rest without making it work, while you fall into the natural rhythm of your chosen pace.

WALKING MEDITATION IN THE WORKPLACE

There is nothing more effective for getting out of stagnant thinking than to go take a much-needed break and rest your mind. If you have a large enough office, take 15 minutes and walk back and forth or go outside in between the sides of two buildings where there are no distractions. Walking meditation refocuses your mind by changing the scenery and opens up your senses to freely associate. It’s like ventilating your thoughts and the good news is you can do it just about anywhere.

Angie Picardo is a staff writer, financial analyst, and content manager at NerdWallet.com, a site dedicated to empowering consumers to save money and make smarter decisions about their personal finances, travel plans, or higher education.