What Is Walking Meditation? Steps To Guided Walk Meditations

If you’re like most people who maintain a regular meditation practice, you probably do so in a laying or seated meditation pose.

Meanwhile, if you haven’t found it easy to take up meditation and have either never tried or have actively given it a go, it may be because it’s particularly tough for you to stay still for long minutes at a time.

Luckily, there are other ways to meditate! Walking meditation is one approach that works for most people.

Meditation isn’t a mandatory part of Law of Attraction work (though creative visualization is strongly recommended and is a sister practice to meditation).

However, it is something that supports good physical, mental and emotional health. It is a simple but powerful way to heighten your vibration and attract good into your life. (TIP: If you are new to meditation, try out this beginner's guide to meditation.)

You could also try out ZenHarmonics – this is a next-generation meditation music that utilizes a very unique technology called MRT. You can try it out at no cost here.

Here are all the key facts you need to know about how to approach walking meditation.

What Is Walking Meditation?

Practicing walking meditation is probably as simple as you think. It needn’t take any longer than 10-15 minutes!

Most people walk at least somewhere each day, and some even walk for exercise or just to relax.

As it turns out, by taking a more mindful approach to this action you can ground yourself and clear your mind.

And you don’t really need to do much more than adjusting your pacing and focus.

Let’s look at the steps required by two variations – the basic walking meditation, and the gratitude walking meditation.

How To Do A Basic Walking Meditation

1. Before you set off on your walk, adjust your posture. Make sure you’re standing up straight but with relaxed limbs, with your shoulders back and your spine comfortably extended.
2. Take a moment to notice the place where your feet connect with the earth, feet roughly hip-width apart.
3. Take the thumb of one hand and wrap the other fingers of that hand around it. Then place the hand at navel height. Take your other hand and wrap that it around the first one, so that the other thumb rests on the top of your clasped hands. This step helps you feel balanced as you walk. Most people say it is more conducive to a walking meditation than our usual, arm-swimming gait.
4. Lower your gaze to just below mid-level (or lower, if you prefer). This promotes continual focus.
5. Take one step, really noticing each and every movement required to do so. For example, feel the swing of your leg and feel the impact of the bottom of your shoe on the ground (noting the sensation felt by each different part of your foot).
6. Do the same as you take the next step with your foot.
7. Holding on to this awareness of your body, walk steadily for 10-15 minutes. You’ll want to move at a slightly slower pace than usual but still with some momentum. If you find that the mind starts to wander away from the body (which is a natural part of all meditation, especially for beginners!), gently shift your attention back to the way your feet feel as they touch the pavement or earth beneath you.

Many people take to the process of walking meditation as soon as they try it. However, if you don’t find it so easy then don’t be too disheartened. Meditation is all about retraining the mind to be a quieter, more reflective space. Plus, as with any skill, the practice could enhance your ability to create this kind of focus.

How To Do A Gratitude Walking Meditation

1. Refer to steps 1-3 from the Basic Walking Meditation guide in order to adopt the right kind of posture and ensure you prime your body for maximum focus.
2. Instead of lowering your gaze past mid-level, look straight ahead.
3. As you make your walk through the world for 10-15 minutes, make it your mission to tune into, and appreciate, all the things of beauty around you.
4. Each time your gaze lands on something, try to look at it in a new way, deliberately finding something to appreciate about it.
5. Naturally, let your eyes wander on to something else as your feet take you to your destination.

Granted, the process outlined above is easier if you are in a place of natural beauty.

That being said, it may well be better for your overall perspective if you deliberately do your Gratitude Walking Meditation in your regular neighborhood, challenging yourself to find beauty in the everyday things that you likely take for granted most of the time.

When done regularly, this type of practice makes you a more positive person, and this feeds into your Law of Attraction work as well as enhancing your general mental well-being.

Want more? Check out our Pinterest board for meditation inspiration and motivation!