Walking meditation

Yoga friends,

Last Sunday we started class with walking
meditation. It is a mindful observation of
walking slowly, so that each step is seen
within the rhythm of one leg moving forward
progressively bearing more weight even as
the other foot slowly decreases contact
with the floor. We let our breath precede
the movement, in breath on one side, out
breath on the other, the ebb and flow of
breath guiding the gradual shift from right
to left to right to left until movement
becomes mantra within which we appreciate a
balance between engaging and letting go.

This Sunday we will start with walking
meditation again, to set our focus for class
within a mindful appreciation of the moment.
Walking meditation lets us observe and
release tensions within ourselves which tend
to hurry us with impatience or worry us with
anxiety. Being present in the act of walking
allows our muscles to soften whereby our
weight sinks downward, letting our feet
spread out in contact with the ground.
Grounding takes us out of our head and we can
notice a gentle rolling motion from heel thru
the outside length of the foot to the little
toe and across the balls of the feet toward
the big toe.
This rolling motion has a correspondence that
effects the sway of our hips and translates
into our arms swinging.

There are many things to be aware of. We can
consciously control how and what we feel. This
mindful ability reaches out to our emotional
level as well. 

: )ohn