In Meditation: Ep. 3 - Walking Meditation

Olivia Allen  0:00 

Welcome to the Living Well podcast by the Well Being Collective at Hart House. The living world podcast is a space to support and examine what it means to live and be well, for Indigenous, Black and Racialized folx through dialogue, meditation and reflection.

Olivia Allen  0:17 

These episodes are recorded on Indigenous land. Tkaronto, "where the trees stand in the water"-- land that has belonged to the Haudenosaunee, the Huron-Wendat, and the Chippewa, and today is a part of the Treaty Lands and Territory of the Mississaugas of the credit. I encourage all of us to reflect on why we acknowledge the land and the importance of living and acting in solidarity with Indigenous peoples globally. Join us for our guided meditation series In Meditation, where you will be led by various facilitators, as you sink into a practice that will help you to re-centre connect to your breath, and shift awareness to the present.

Liz Coucean  1:02 

Hi, this is Liz. My pronouns are she and her and welcome to your 20 minute walking meditation. So we are going to be using this walk very proactively as an opportunity to practice presence, practice being connected, not only to ourselves, but to our surroundings. Oftentimes, we are just so caught in our own thoughts and in our minds that we're walking through life and not taking a moment to really just allow ourselves to be with whatever is arising in the moment.

Liz Coucean  1:45 

And so this is what we will be diving into today. So wherever you are walking right now, just take a moment to tune in to your breath. As you're taking in the sights around you.

Liz Coucean  2:03 

So just start to notice your breathing before making any changes to your breath. Okay. Just becoming aware. Is the breath long? Is it smooth?

Liz Coucean  2:20 

How's the texture of the breath right now?

Liz Coucean  2:27 

And feeling the temperature of the air as you inhale through the nose and if it's comfortable exhaling through the nose as well.

Liz Coucean  2:51 

So as you are walking and taking your steps you are also aware of how you're breathing.

Liz Coucean  2:57 

And then see how it would feel to start to lengthen your breath just a little bit. Maybe deepening your inhales and exhales.

Liz Coucean  3:28 

And noticing if you feel called to adjust the rhythm or pace of your walk in any way.

Liz Coucean  3:47 

And at any point you might feel called to simply pause and stop walking and just breathe.

Liz Coucean  4:28 

And just start to notice your feet and how they're feeling against the surface that you're walking on.

Liz Coucean  4:50 

And becoming aware of the soles of the feet.

Liz Coucean  5:01 

Just feeling the feet in side the shoes if you're wearing shoes right now.

Liz Coucean  5:12 

Just allowing all of your awareness to just drop down into the feet as you walk here.

Liz Coucean  5:24 

and just becoming aware of which parts of the feet are making contact with the ground. Are you feeling the heels, the sides of the feet, the balls of the feet? How are the toes feeling becoming more and more mindfully aware of how you're walking and simply the act of walking. Walking is one of our first major accomplishments that we experience when we're toddlers. And because we're so used to doing it, we really tend to walk on autopilot

Liz Coucean  6:37 

And so walking is often does happening in the background for us.

Liz Coucean  6:47 

And so as we continue to maintain this awareness on our feet, we bring this practice of back into the foreground of our minds.

Liz Coucean  7:06 

And can you start to feel into the ankles noticing how they're interacting with your step and your feet

Liz Coucean  7:33 

just noticing the foot moving forward and heel planting down in each step

Liz Coucean  7:46 

if it's possible, maybe just slowing down this walk for a moment and really feeling into these ankle joints.

Liz Coucean  8:31 

And then gently guide your awareness a little further up moving up the shins and the calves and towards the knees now and just noticing how the knees are moving through space.

Liz Coucean  9:09 

And what is the temperature on the knees right now? And does one knee feel different than the other?

Liz Coucean  9:31 

Just feeling how the knee joint connects to the ankle joint.

Liz Coucean  10:12 

And now is sending a little bit higher feeling the hips and how are they moving in space right now.

Liz Coucean  10:24 

Noticing also what might be drawing your attention away from your body can you be aware of the sights and the sounds around you while still maintaining connection to how the hips are moving through space.

Liz Coucean  10:59 

Simultaneously engaging with life while maintaining presence and awareness and feeling how the hip joints connect to the knee joints and how the knee joint connects to the ankle joint. And now exploring how all three joints are working in tandem as you're walking.

Liz Coucean  12:32 

Continuing to ascend upwards feeling your torso and how it's interacting with the hips how do we slightly lean maybe onto one side and then the others we take our steps.

Liz Coucean  13:06 

Really feeling into the flow of the body and how all of these different parts are working together

Liz Coucean  13:15 

as we move and walk now moving up and into the arms just observing starting from the shoulders

Liz Coucean  13:39 

moving down into the elbows and the wrists and the fingers.

Liz Coucean  13:52 

How are the arms moving through space and simply noticing how the shoulder joints are connecting to the hip joints and how the hip joints are connecting to the knee joints in how the knees are connecting to the ankles and how the ankles are connecting to the feet.

Liz Coucean  15:19 

Becoming aware of the neck and becoming aware of the head and just observing you might be looking at a site in a specific direction.

Liz Coucean  15:56 

This feeling your whole head and now noticing how the head and the neck connect to the shoulders and how the shoulders connects to the hips and how the hips connect to the knees and how the knees connect to the ankles and feeling how the ankles once again connect to the feet

Liz Coucean  17:18 

And so now you're aware of how the whole body is walking.

Liz Coucean  17:35 

You're aware of the front side of the body, you're aware of the right and the left side of the body and you're also aware of the back side of the body.

Liz Coucean  17:59 

Completely aware of how the whole body is moving through space.

Liz Coucean  18:17 

As you allow the soles and the feet to connect to the surface that you're walking on

Liz Coucean  18:32 

You also allow the air around you to replenish the body by those smooth inhales and exhales. And just notice the ways that you may have made tiny shifts in your walking pattern.

Liz Coucean  20:01 

As you are more in tune with your own body as you walk invites permission to be more aware of our surrounding environment as well.

Liz Coucean  20:31 

Knowing that as we move through the world with more awareness and mindfulness we create space in our minds and in our bodies to receive everything that life is offering us.

Liz Coucean  21:14 

So I hope you enjoy this walking meditation feel free to practice this on your own time as well and is really using your walks as an opportunity to reconnect to your body as well as your environment. Thank you so much and take care.

Olivia Allen  22:03 

Thank you for joining us in this practice today. We would love to hear from you. You can find us on Instagram at Hart House fitness center. You can find the Living Well podcast anywhere podcasts are available. today's podcast was produced by Shaela with the music composed by Bill. See you next time.