How to do a Mindfulness Walk so you can be Present, Calm, and Focused

Come walk with me! I'm mixing things up this week! It's Earth Day soon, and it's National Stress Awareness Month so I wanted to share one of my favorite stress relief activities - a mindfulness walk. Not only does this relieve stress but it can also increase our connection to nature - (which in itself…

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Transcript

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Hello and welcome to the bless ful body podcast. I'm your host Chi Autumn Russell. And I'm here to share with you my best fitness and healthy living strategies and tips. And they are so good. Your body, mind and spirit will be thankful that you listened. Hey there, friends. It's me, Kai. I hope you're having a wonderful day. And welcome to another episode of the blissful body podcast. We are going to be doing something a little bit differently today. I'm gonna lead you through a walking meditation to increase mindfulness and awareness and just bring some relax ation and calm into your day. The first half of this episode will be appropriate for anyone, even if you're driving or listening at a time when you can't go for a walk and then you can continue to listen to the second half, if you like, or you can choose to pause and then come back to it later when you are actually walking before we get started with our walking meditation, I wanted to just give another shout out to a listener review. So this review is very kind and it is to the Lizard King is taken for some reason is the name that eyes this person's iTunes names. That's pretty funny. And they say, Great podcast. The bless full body has been great for keeping myself thinking about mental and physical wellness during the past crazy months. Highly recommend. Well, thanks so much Lizard King for your review. I greatly appreciate it. And it certainly makes me chuckle your user name. And yeah, that's basically what we're all about here, right, men tickle mental and physical wellness. And I'm really glad that it's given you a little bit of some calm. Perhaps while you're dealing with some craziness cause we all go through those phases and that is one of my goals is to be, ah, place of support for all of my listeners. And certainly that is what we're going to be doing today. So today we're gonna be talking about the theory behind mindfulness and meditation a little bit, but we're really gonna be very practical in moving through and getting some movement in our bodies and actually doing the walking meditation. OK. And I wanted to do this because not only is April the National Stress Awareness Month, but also at the time of this recording, we will be coming up to Earth Day next week. And I thought that this would be a wonderful way to just kind of deepen our connection to the outdoors to nature. You don't have to practice this outside. You can definitely do this indoors as well. But I thought that it would just be a really nice thing, particularly as we're all most of us. Um, at a time when we're have some nice weather right now, regardless of which hemisphere were in right spring were kind of in the middle. So either getting ready for summer or getting ready for winter. This is I call this a mindfulness walk. And we could also call this a senses walk. And it is one of my favorite stress relief activities. I teach this every semester and my stress management class, and it's one of my very favorite things to do with my students. We actually get to go outside and be outside and just enjoy every the beauty of campus, right, because, um, most colleges air quite beautiful and have pockets of beauty, and people don't really notice that. And I bet the same is true for also your town, your neighborhood, your community. Maybe if you're going to do this, you could even choose to do this somewhere in nature. I highly recommend that so all of those would be a really great way. And if you don't want to be outside when you're practicing this walking meditation, you can do this while you're on a treadmill. You could also do this while you're on a stationary bike. You don't have to be outdoors, and you also don't necessarily have to be someplace beautiful. You don't have to go on a trail, and you don't have to go somewhere where you're all hear birds chirping or be able to, you know, feel and smell nature and and all of that. But it certainly is something that if it's available to you and something that you enjoy, I recommend that you do this in a natural setting, if possible. Okay, we've talked before around mindfulness on the podcast, and I will link to the previous episode that was all about mindfulness and the benefits of mindfulness. But I just wanted to give you a quick overview as to why practicing mindfulness is so beneficial. So we know that it increases focus and increases feelings of calm feelings of life satisfaction and also by doing something like this, which is a mindfulness activity that is designed to kind of help us be more focused on the present moment than it can help us be more mindful at other times. And for those of you haven't heard the prior mindfulness podcast, being mindful is basically focusing an awareness on the present moment without judgment. So really noticing and being present for the moment that you're in, which is really the part of our life that we are in right now, right? The past is gone. The future might come. It might not, But often we spend a lot of time kind of focusing on those two others, and we don't really dive in and experience the present moment. And so this activity is designed to really be a tool to help us not only be more mindful during this walk experience, but also to be more mindful during all the other moments of our lives. This is how are we going to do this? So this meditation is definitely a little different than a pure walking meditation. So most of the time when people are discussing doing a a walking meditation, that would be something that they would be walking very slowly, typically, and probably repeating the path. Basically, walking in a circle or maybe a labyrinth is how this is practice, and that is a very different type of activity than what we're gonna do. Which is why I call it a mindfulness walk or s senses. Walk right, a sensory walk, and we will be utilising our senses. And I will be talking about using all five senses. One of those senses isn't available to you. Focus on breathing during that part of the walk and then also focus on the experience of the walk itself. And that's what I'm going to be starting the meditation with. So if we come to a section that doesn't apply to your experience, then go back and kind of just refocus on what it feels like to be walking and your breathing. And the other thing that I would recommend, if you are going to be doing this outside, is that you would make sure that it's safe to walk with headphones on, okay, so make sure that your environment is safe and that you will be able to have on your headphones. And then for part of it, you will need to take your headphones off so that we can focus on listening as well. Okay, so to begin, we're going to start. So at this point, if you are choosing to do this while you're actually walking, then you would want to pause and get yourself somewhere where you're gonna take a walk, and then we could start back together. And then if you want to just do this now and listen to the activity and then do it on a walk on your own later. That's fine, too. And those of you that are in the bless full body membership. This walking meditation will be available to download so you can download it and not need access to the walk. So look for that. It should will definitely be out by May. And, um, then you can repeat this is the download. I'll try to get it in the membership a little sooner, but I know that it will be ready by May to begin your going to start standing and we're going to start taking a deep breath and a big and Helen. And this is before I want you to start walking. You're gonna in hell and notice the breath entering the body, allowing a full expansion of your torso pause and then as you exhale, feel the breath leaving your body Feel the breath leaving through your nostrils and just noticing that sensation once again breathing in noticing how the torso moves, the belly releases the rib cage may move. And just taking a nice, deep, full inhale and then exhaling slowly as well and now remaining stationary. We're not gonna be walking yet. I'd like for you to take your awareness and place it at your feet. So really feel your feet connecting into the ground, possibly through shoes, feeling that connection, how what your toes air feeling like what your heels air feeling like, and then bring that awareness from your feet. You're continuing to breathe nice and slow and checking in feeling your legs, your lower legs, your upper legs, feeling your hips, feeling your torso, noticing the abdominals, the back your shoulders, and we're not necessarily trying to change anything. We're just trying to bring our awareness into our body and really check in with the sensations that were feeling feeling your arms, the upper arm, the lower arm, your hands, your neck, your face checking in with your jaw, the space around your eyes, your head and even your scalp, and even feeling your hair okay and take another deep breath in. And then I'd like for you to just gently rock your weight forward and backward on your feet, feeling how your weight is distributed in each position. So just chant Lee, rock forward and then gently rock back, noticing the reaction of the toes, noticing the reaction up the legs, possibly into the spine and just noticing how that feels is you. Shift your weight gently forward and back, and you can also do this side to side. So shifting your weight toe one foot the outside edge of one foot, the inside edge of the other and then shifting and the other direction continuing to take a nice, deep, slow breath, return your weight back to the center of your feet. Seeing if you can have that feeling off boy and see there is a slight lean forward with the weight were not all the way back in our heels, but we don't want to be rocked all the way forward to our toes and then once more free, then great. And now I'd like you to start walking and just begin by noticing how your body is moving through space. Okay, so noticing how your feet are moving as you propel yourself forward, feeling the action of your toes, the feeling of your foot as it connects to the earth. How it feels when your heel connects to the ground as you're coming forward. And then what is the foot doing behind you to help you propel forward and then noticing as you're taking these steps and they might be slower than your normal walking pace, that's fine. Notice how as your propelling yourself forward and shifting your weight from one foot to the other that there can be some gentle engagement through the back of the leg of the leg that's behind you. And then noticing how that shifts as you bring the foot forward and how, then the other side, the back of the leg, would be working to propel you forward and then just continue to take a few more steps noticing the feet in the legs, and then let's your attention travel through the rest of your body. Has your walking checking in with your tour, so your arms? How does your head respond to stepping through and moving forward? How does your spine respond? Do you gently rotate? Are your arms swinging and try to just feel this with thoughts of curiosity instead of trying to necessarily think that it should be one way or the other, just noticing what is and releasing any judgments around what you've noticed? Continue toe. Walk now and let yourself. You can always return back to your physical experience of moving. If there's a particular section of this meditation that won't be relevant to you and we're going to begin by exploring the sense of sight and we're going to notice, what are you see? What are you looking at? As you're walking through space, notice any colors that might be around you, particularly noticing that shades of different colors how abundant some colors might be. If there's any colors that pop outs because they're different from the surrounding landscape and just slowly and intentionally walk and notice really notice what you're looking at And if you can try to even avoid labeling what you're seeing, see if you can get to a place where you're not necessarily identifying everything but just noticing it. So looking at the colors and then noticing the shapes that are around you noticing the big picture, the landscape, you looking back and surveying the entire scene that you're witnessing and then looking for smaller details as well noticing what objects air around you that you might not have noticed before. You can pause and look really deeply at a particular area, getting really close to something that you want to gaze at more and just continue to explore and look at the world around you and continuing to breathe calmly and deeply as you're going through. And if you would like to spend more time exploring what you are seeing, you can always pause this and then continue one when you're ready with the next sense that we will dio which is going to be hearing now, I imagine that you might be wearing headphones of some kind to listen to this. And if you are, I'm gonna give you these instructions and then I'm gonna ask you to pause and take your headphones off and spend some time in quiet contemplation and just really listening. So first taking notice of what you're actually hearing. What kinds of sounds air there in the space around you, noticing the different kinds of sounds, the different tones? Are there some high sounds? Are there some low sounds? Are there sounds that are pulsing or droning? Which ones do you hear first, and then see if you can find those sounds that air underneath what you most here in the initial face. So if something pops out with you, notice those sounds that pop out and then take some time to actually try to go deeper and see if there's any underlying sounds or their background noises. Is there any type of droning sound, something that you would normally tune out and not actually listen to? So with that in mind, go ahead and take a good three minutes, pausing this recording and taking off any headphones in just walking and allowing yourself to here the sounds and noises around you. Now that you have explored the sounds around you, let's move into the sense of smell and what we might be smelling so typically with smell. We noticed those unexpected smells, the things that pop up unexpectedly and a really strong, and that is fine. That's wonderful. That's gonna be the first thing that we are noticing as we're walking through and really focusing on the sense of smell. So what are those unexpected smells? What are the strong odors that catch your attention immediately and then see if you confined the smells that are underlying and present that you might not have noticed before noticing? If anything smells sweet, if anything felt, smells unpleasant and even take a moment and stop and choose something to smell, smell something that you wouldn't necessarily think of smelling. Obviously, if there's a rose around, that's always a good idea to stop and smell the roses, but also smell a tree. Smell a building. See if you can notice what some of those underlying smells are that we don't really place our focus and attention on. Can you smell the earth? What does the earth smell like in this location? Is there grass is the concrete. What are the different substances that are giving off some smells? What does the air itself smell like, how would you describe that aroma and continue on exploring the sense of smell? If you would like more time, you can always pause and then return to this audio guide. And now the next sense we're going to focus on is closely related to our sense of smell. We're gonna think about our sense of taste now. Often if we're not eating something we don't necessarily think of. Taste is something that's present, but I'd invite you to think first on what is the background taste in your mouth? What is the taste that is present right now in your mouth? And how would you really describe that to someone? And then, just by noticing that, does it change it all? As you bring awareness to the taste that's present in your mouth? Are you noticing any change you can think about swallowing and noticing If any taste changes with that sensation, and then also noticing, Are there smells that bring about different tastes as you're walking through and going past different areas? What are the different taste that might be invoked often when we smell different? Smells will also be able to have different tastes present in our mouth even when we're not eating, Okay? And now, as you continue walking and breathing, we're going to think about the fifth Sense. We're going to think about the sense of touch, and I'd like for you to think once again about your full body moving through space. How are you moving through space, noticing the muscles and the joints and what that feels like as you're moving. And then I'd like for you to notice your skin and notice what your skin is actually touching right now and how different sensations can affect your skin. Is there a breeze that is blowing across your body? Does the hair on your arms sway or move with the breeze? Are you feeling that with your skin? What about temperature as you move, perhaps in and out of the sun? Is the sun hitting you? Are you in a shady spot? How does that change the sensations that your skin is feeling? Perhaps it's raining or misty, And what does that feel like on your skin and then noticing even as you change your pace? If you walk a little faster, does that change how your skin is feeling If you walk a little slower. What is that to? And then continue to walk and breathe and then even more so. See if you can feel your clothes on your skin. You're close or touching parts of your skin right now, and it's in sensation that many of us are not aware off from our day to day moment. And what does it feel like? What do your clothes feel like on your skin? Does it changes you take a step or move your arm? Where your clothes touching you? What are you feeling? And then start to feel the touch of your feet on the ground near feet if you're wearing shoes in your shoes. And what does that ground feel like? What two different surfaces feel like? If you're somewhere, we're say, you're walking on a sidewalk and there's a patch of grass next to you. Just step off the sidewalk and notice the difference. How that feels on your skin, even how it feels in your joints and your muscles as you're walking from the concrete to the grass. If you're on a trail, see if you can notice what it feels like to step on a rock Or perhaps some dirt might feel differently then grass as well, and notice how your feet respond in your shoes. How your feet respond how your body responds as you move through these different surfaces and you touch these different things and then continue this like to take another deep breath in and we're going to continue. And this time, try to see if you can check in with all of the senses available to you and really absorb all of the information that's coming towards you. The fullness of the information. So thinking about the sites, thinking about the sounds, thinking about the smells, the tastes and the touch and continue on your walk and just keep noticing the difference. Moments that you can be aware with these different senses and notice how they play together. So perhaps you stepped onto some leaves and you felt that feeling underneath your foot and the crunch. And then you also heard the rustling of the leaves. And maybe there was a smell that was released as thes leaves were being crumpled. And did that affect your taste? What did they look like? So definitely allowing yourself just the time in the space to just slowly go through and check in with all of your different senses as you're moving. Continue doing this for the rest of your walk, just allowing your attention to roll through space through your body and just notice all of the different things around you. You can pause this recording and continue on, and then we'll finish altogether when you're done with your walk. So now that we've come to the end of our walk, just take a moment to stand. Once again. Your feet strong underneath you, your spine tall and close. The practice with some deep breaths, breathing in through the nostrils, breathing out through the nose, allowing the body to change. Shape and move as you're breathing. And then do a last body scan again, starting with your feet, letting your attention roll up through the legs, the hips, the torso, the shoulders, the arms and hands. The next the face the head and take one more big deep and Helen expanding the torso fully and then slowly release, allowing a full exhale to empty out Beautiful work friends. I hope that you enjoyed this mindfulness walk and remember, you can practice thes components any time. Anywhere you can give yourself a mindful listening moment where you sit and just listen for literally a minute can really help focused in your attention, your awareness and really change the course of your day. You can do the same thing when you're eating, focusing in on foods. You can do this literally at any time. It doesn't need to be long, just a short little bit of time. Or you can repeat an entire mindfulness walk like this one whenever you feel like dropping in and getting a little bit more focus and calm. Well, thank you so much for joining me and taking me with you on your walk. I so enjoyed it, and I would love to hear if you were on a walk where you were walking. So either writer iTunes review and let me know how the walk was for you are you can even comment on my website or shoot me an email or anywhere on social media as well are right friends much love to you. I hope you have an amazing, beautiful bless ful day. Take care and I'll be talking to you soon. But by