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Walking Mindfully
Mindfullness is paying attention to the present moment and what we are doing and thinking in the present moment.
Date: 9/30/2010 11:24:30 AM ( 14 y ) ... viewed 55384 times
Walking Mindfully - part two in the series at CZ blog -
Walking is another activity that can be done mindfully. Almost anything can be done mindfully. We have done the dishes [see previous post here], so lets go for a walk.
Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn Quote:
"If you can name something or feel it, you can be mindfull of it. In bringing mindfullness to an activity or an experience, it becomes more vivid because the stream of your thinking subsides a little and is less likely to interpose itself between you and what is actually happening. This greater clarity and fullness can be experienced in the activities of daily living."
- end quote -
Preferably, this walk will be done outdoors where there are few distractions. Instead of walking in "automatic pilot mode" where our body knows exactly what to do without any conscious thought, and where our minds are busy thinking about everything BUT walking, for this exersise we will try to take note of everything about walking [including our breathing].
There is a lot to take notice of when walking, such as the fact that we lean forward and then catch ourselves on the leg swinging forwards. Our arms, when we use them, swing opposite the legs to help with balance, and our shoulders might be swaying a bit. Our head might bob a bit, we might have a sway in our hips. Most people have never given those things any notice at all, but now is the time.
Also, notice where you are holding tension - our jaw might be clenched, and our hands might be tight too. We might have a scowl on our face. Our neck, shoulders, arms and legs might be tight and stiff too.
It is our semi-conscious thoughts that create those tight spots. Being mindfull as we do an activity allows us to monitor that "stream of thinking" that goes on all day at the edge of our consciousness.
Initially, the idea is not to change the way we walk, but rather to just be mindfull of how we walk.
Awareness of our breathing is essential for the mindfullness practice. Breathe deeply when doing the walking mindfully exercise, as in "diaphramatic breathing" so that your belly [at the navel area] expands. Some people find that deep breathing when walking is difficult because of the fact that we are holding ourselves upright with our "core muscles", which are in the same area as the muscles we use for diaphramatic breathing. Because of that, some people tend to breathe only into the chest area when walking, which can be restrictive and in fact can create anxiety. It may take some practice to breathe deeply when walking, but the benefits are certainly worth it - you will have more stamina and you will feel more relaxed.
Notice everything about your breathing such as "in, or out?", "nostrils or mouth?", "the rush of air", "belly rising", and if the in and out breaths are the same length.
By this point, you can see that there is a lot going on, a lot to pay attention to, in this simple act of walking. Being aware of them, keeping our focus on them, helps keep our minds firmly in the present - the past and future are of no use to us in this exercise, they can only be distractions. Any thoughts unrelated to walking are distractions, but you will have them, we all do, it is part of the human condition.
Every time a random thought arises, such as "I wonder what we should have for supper tonight", take note of what the thought is but do not "entertain it", and then gently dismiss it and return your focus to your breathing. Intrusive thoughts are those thoughts that are about the past and future; anything in the present is good to take notice of even though the focus should mostly be on breathing and walking.
This is not a boring exercise, at least not for your conscious mind. It will be a constant battle to keep random thoughts from intruding on your focus on walking and breathing. The goal is not to stop having those thoughts but rather it is about how you deal with them; we are training our minds to be able to CHOOSE when to react to random thoughts. When an untrained mind reacts to random thoughts anxiety often results.
Here is a quote about mindfull walking from Dr. Kabat-Zinn:
"Take a step and feel the way one foot moves through the air, and as the weight shifts from one foot to the other. Feel the leg muscles tense and release, and the way the legs support the weight. Notice the back and abdominal muscles at work too. Be aware of the arms swinging, and the way the head moves with each step.
Focus your gaze a few meters in front of you but don't really see anything. At some point you might also like to close your eyes and be mindfull of how your balance feels uncertain.
After a few minutes you might want to be mindfull of "the whole body within the envelope of your skin" as it moves. You might almost begin to float, especially if you close your eyes, but stay with the body awareness, do not let your thoughts go too far into that reverie, return your awareness to be mindfull of your walking."
- end quote -
Insights
The style of walking, as in our "gait", tells a lot about how we are feeling. Other people can see it. Most people seem to adapt a certain way of walking and it rarely changes, as if they believe that is how they have to walk. It isn't. We can take longer or shorter strides, we can use a quicker or a slower pace, we can be more upright, we can smile a little or a lot, and we can hold our head high and lower our shoulders. Try changing something about your gait and you will notice [if you are being aware] that changing the way you walk can have an effect on your mood.
What the heck, do a "silly walk" like in the Monty Python comedies and see how your mood changes!!
Illness or injury can certainly determine how a person walks, especially if they have a bad hip or a sore foot, but even then we can try out different gaits and we can try to have a more relaxed body [such as the shoulders].
Many people walk a certain way to "show how they feel", like slouching or limping or looking like the walking dead - it is communication. What that does is re-enforce the negative moods of the person walking, and I can gaurantee that those people are also THINKING negative thoughts when they walk like that. Even those people have options. Why not explore some of those options?
In reality, we can walk in 100s of different gaits. We can loosen up our hips and let them rotate a lot - try exagerating that a bit [when nobody is looking, perhaps?]. We can swing our arms and shoulders to increase our forward motion. We can let our legs go loose too, flopping our forward foot ahead of where it might normally land. When we try out different gaits, we often find that our mood changes. In fact, what we are thinking about when walking will often change when we change gaits too.
How would you know that unless you are being mindfull? You wouldn't.
Postive minded people, many of whom are also in dire straights by the way, can often be identified by their gait. I saw one this morning, he was upright and he took long, lanky strides at a moderate pace, easily covering lots of ground effortlessly. His arms were swinging and his hips swayed a little bit. I felt more positive just seeing him!!
That is another point - we not only affect our own mood by walking positively, but we also create positive energy that spills out on the sidewalk and to anyone in the area. My philosophy includes the idea that we CAN create a positive world by making an effort to "create positive energy" whenever and wherever we can.
Awareness of what is going on in our minds and bodies is very important to achieving peace within ourselves. It is essential to that goal. Who does not want to finding a more peacefull state of existence? Who doesn't want to feel more positive? [well, actually, I know several of those people, ones who do NOT want to feel postive because they are stuck in a rut and it feels comfortable to them, it is familiar and what they know; change is difficult. The way out of that rut is mindfullness!!].
I hope you try this when you go for a walk today. You just might find some insights and I am sure that you will feel more positive for having done it. Enjoy.
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Note - Quotes are from a book by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn called "Full Catastrophe Living".
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