- Albert Tiong
Many of us are given the wonderful gift of our legs, and most of the time, we use them for walking. We learned to walk at around one year old. You don’t remember now, but you were concentrating on every step as your brain was learning something new at that time. After that, walking becomes a natural process, and we now do it automatically without even thinking. As we walk now, we talk to someone, use our phone, eat and drink, all without thinking about every step we take. We do not pay attention to our sensations, until our leg hurts.
Occasionally we walk not to get to another place, but we use walking to distress, or find ideas. And when we do that, our mind is full of thoughts. At times we are able to feel less stress, but maybe even more stressed. What is supposed to help us reduce stress actually increased it.
One way you can consider is walking with mindfulness. You can do this practice either indoors or outdoors. If you choose to walk indoors, you do not need a large room because you can walk in circles, forward or backward. If you walk indoors, try not to wear any shoes so that you can feel the sensation from the floor. With any practice, random thoughts may come into your mind. Just observe them and let them drift away and bring your focus back to the practice.
1. Stand straight with your arms by the side of your body.
2. Focus on your breathing for one minute. When you are ready, move your attention to your feet.
3. With your feet still on the ground, move your body to the left side for 10 seconds. Feel the weight of your body on your left foot.
4. Now move your body to the right side for 10 seconds. Feel the weight of your body on your right foot.
5. Very slowly take one step forward with your left foot. Feel the sensation of the whole body from the moment your left foot is lifted off from the ground until it reaches the floor again. Continue with every subsequent step you walk forward.
6. Occasionally walk slowly backwards. Feel the sensation of the entire body.
Another way of mindful walking is to walk according to your breaths. Breathe out as you take one foot forward, breathe in while you move the other foot.
Enjoy your walk!
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