At the beginning of your walking meditation practice, walk slower than usual in order to be able to follow your steps consciously. Act as a toddler who is walking for the first time. Re-create the feeling of awe as you are watching the miracle of walking. Witness your first step, sense your foot lifting up, moving forward, descending, touching the ground.
Follow its movement. Do the same with the other foot, and repeat this until you are fully immersed in the walking. All the while, be in the moment. During your walk, just accept everything you see around you, one by one thing or entity.
Feel your inner body and your movements (of legs, arms and whole body). Totally accept all of that, one by one. You are walking, without thinking, being here and now, conscious of the environment and conscious of yourself. You are aware of movements of your body; you feel the tension in your muscles; you feel bodily sensations.
But the catch is that you don’t lose yourself completely in that - you retain a certain level of self-consciousness all the time. Whatever comes into your focus that distracts your thoughtless awareness - perhaps a thought or an emotion - you just accept it as it is and return to the Presence in walking. After some time, you will deepen the state of pure awareness, i.e., Presence. You might get a profound impression of a complete merger with your surroundings, or even find yourself in the middle of an apparent movie, unfolding before your eyes, with your as the main protagonist.
You may do the walking meditation whenever you get a chance for a walk. It is deeply transformative. Whenever you walk, even from your office to your colleague’s workplace, take advantage of this walking meditation, however short it is. Turn your every step into a small poem.
Slow down, feel each step as it comes, each motion of your feet, legs, arms, all sensations of touching the ground with your shoes, your breathing, your heart and your whole body. Enjoy the wonder of walking in the Now.
