walking meditation

Going into this walk I am trying to remain positive. I am working to supress my doubts about being able to successfully meditate while being active. I am succesful with meditating the more normal method, which is to sit in a quiet place, with stillness and slowly clear the mind. I find that the stillness especially is an important part of the exercise. It is easier to focus on what you are supposed to do this way. Walking is one of the activities that causes my mind to wander most. Being outside offers distractions. Although I am of this opinion, I choose not to entertain these thoughts because they could potentially interfere with my results.

Completing the walk was not as difficult as I believed it could be. Going into the walk with the intention of meditating helped my focus a great deal. When I did notice my mind begin to stray I counted my steps. Training my thoughts on the numbers helped to bring it around. At times I did notice myself not thinking of anything, which of course me thinking and ruining concentration. It’s weird how meta you can get when you are inside your head this way.

I did find the people present at the park I went distracting at first, but when I was doing everything right I was able to tune them out. When I accomplished doing it I would feel very zen. I felt like there was just my steps and myself. At some points I didn’t even hear what was going on around me. The only sound was my foot steps through my body. I am not usually able to tune out people on cue and while this was not quite one cue it was more than I am able to do in my normal state.

Another difference with this meditation is the presence of light and color. I am used to seeing darkness due to my closed eyes when I meditate, but keeping them open allowed my to see without acknowledging or having thoughts on what was happening around me. This was a new experience for me. I liked being able to see and not think about what was happening because I felt in control of my brain. It was also interesting to be able to do this simply because it was a new experience.

While I did not find walking meditation as head clearing as meditation done while sitting, it did have a positive effect on me. I felt the calmness that is accompanied with meditation. Even though I did not get the full result of meditation, it is likely that I would gain them with practice.