Walking Meditation
For those new to the art of meditation, it is easy to become initiated through the practice of Walking Meditation. Walking can be done at any time during the day or night, any season, and in any location. And as with the practice of eight limbs of yoga, meditation is an essential component of mental, physical and spiritual balance. Communing with nature in an outdoor setting can enhance the walking meditation process, but walking can also be successfully practiced indoors when we are constrained by weather or other personal requirements.
You should begin your Walking Meditation practice with 15 minute sessions, but as you progress, your sessions can extend up to an hour or more. As with other types of meditation or relaxation practices, you should be in a quiet and comfortable setting. You should feel safe and relaxed, and ensure that you are neither too cold nor too warm.
Start out walking a little faster than normal, and gradually slow down to a normal walking speed, and then continue to slow down until you start to feel artificial or off balance. Speed up just enough to feel comfortable, physically and psychologically. At first you may need to walk fairly fast to feel smooth in your gait, but with practice, as your balance improves, you should be able to walk more slowly.
Do not have a destination in mind, but rather focus on just being in the moment.
Be mindful of your breathing, without trying to control it. Allow the breath to become diaphragmatic if possible, but always make sure your breathing feels natural, not artificial. Allow the breath to become circular, and fluid.
Walk with 'soft vision' allowing the eyes to relax and focus upon nothing, while aware of everything. Smile softly with your eyes. Gradually allow the smile to spread from your eyes to your face and throughout your body. This is called an "organic smile" or a "thalamus smile". Imagine every cell of your body smiling softly. Let all worry and sadness fall away from you as you walk.
Walk in silence, both internal and external.
Be mindful of your walking, make each step a gesture, so that you move in a state of grace, and each footprint is an impression of the peace and love you feel for the universe. Walk with slow, small, deliberate, balanced, graceful foot steps.
After a while, when both the breath and the walking have slipped into a regular pattern of their own accord, become aware of the number of footsteps per breath. Make no effort to change the breath, rather lengthen or shorten the rhythm of your step just enough so that you have 2, 3 or 4 steps per inhalation and 2, 3 or 4 steps per exhalation. Once you have discovered your natural rhythm, lock into it, so that the rhythm of the walking sets the rhythm for the breath like a metronome.
After several weeks of regular practice you may experiment with the ratios adding a foot step to your exhalation and later to your inhalation as well. Whatever ratio of steps-to-breath that you settle on, it should feel comfortable, and you should be able to maintain it for the duration of the meditation comfortably. After several months you may find your lung capacity improving. If you are comfortable, lengthen your breath an extra step but avoid trying to slow the breath too much or you will do more harm than good.
Notice the beauty of your surroundings, both externally and internally. Smile with every cell in your body.