~Walking Meditation
Sustaining awareness of the physical sensations in the legs
and feet while walking helps bring interest and openness into
everyday life.
Choose a flat place about ten meters long to walk back and forth.
Simply experience the changing textures, temperatures, weights,
densities, vibrations, and so on. The main focus is on the soles
of the feet, as you walk back and forth at a normal or slow pace.
Slowing down can allow concentration on more subtle sensations.
Just enjoy one step at a time, as if you had all the time in
the world.
Notice that it is self-defeating to set goals such as, "I
will be with every step till the end of my line." That thought
is already a break in the simple meeting with physical sensations--and
besides is an unlikely goal to be fulfilled!
If you are distracted, pause at the end of each "lap,"
close the eyes, and reconnect before turning around.
Some people find that the "noting technique" helps
concentration: keep most of the attention on the physical sensations
while allowing words such as "lifting, moving, placing,"
to describe the movement of the feet. If the words take up too
much attention, then please drop the noting.
Whenever possible, be alert for the subtle "urge" or
"intention" to turn the body around, just before actually
turning. It can be possible, to expand this alertness to the intentions
to lift, move, or place a foot. Awareness of intentions gives
more space between unconscious urges and following
through on them.
Let this practice come into your daily life.
|