Meditation is a very powerful tool for practicing awareness and mindfulness. I myself use it every day to stay present and achieve a state of inner peace.
If you are now picturing me sitting in a quite room with closed eyes and folded hands, then you are mistaken. Although I do like to practice such form of meditation sometimes, in reality, I rarely find the chance for it.
Instead, I practice walking meditation.
I do it while walking to work and back home.
Four times fifteen minutes every weekday.
How does walking meditation work?
In walking meditation you use the experience of walking as your focus. You become mindful of your experience while walking. You try to keep your awareness involved with the experience of walking.
When I walk, every step I take is intentional, one after the other.
Every time my foot touches down I feel the ground, I feel the surface.
If possible, I am walking barefoot or with barefoot shoes to enhance the sensual feedback I receive with my feet.
But there’s more.
While walking there’s many other things that I can direct my focus to:
- My breathing, in and out, synchronized with my movement
- My body as it moves while floating over the ground
- The sunshine on my skin, the wind in my hair
- The audible impressions all around me
- The visual sensation of the flowers, the clouds, the houses
- The scent in the air as I slender through the streets
While walking, I cycle my focus to those different things.
When thoughts arise, I watch them and they disappear.
I do not judge, I only observe; myself and my environment.
Meditation for a more balanced mind
As a programmer and family man, walking meditation provides the perfect balance between home and work.
I might leave work with my thoughts still stuck on a problem that I do not want to take home to my family.
Similarly, I might leave home thinking about the discussion with my wife or the playtime with my children that would distract me from focusing on my work.
Instead, as soon as I leave either place, I walk. I meditiate.
Any thoughts or worries are immediately dissolved.
When I arrive my mind is clear.
I am at peace. I am fully focused.
Walking meditation vs. sitting meditation
The core difference between the two meditation forms is that of focus degree.
When practicing sitting meditation there is usually no distractions. No visual, audible or sensual perception. There is only you and the focus is only on your self; deeply.
On the other hand, during walking meditation the focus wanders. It is not deep but it is there, constantly.
True awakening means constant awareness.
Walking meditation blends into my daily life and therefore brings me closer to that awakening.