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When you think meditation, you probably imagine sitting quietly while deep breathing. While that's a valid practice, it's far from your only option.
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If sitting still isn't for you, a body-centered technique may be the mindfulness hack you've been looking for. Enter walking meditation.
LIVESTRONG.COM talked to Marlena Lambert, LMT, a somatic educator, as well as Ash Wix, a yoga teacher and founder of Out Together, to learn all about walking meditations and how to do them.
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What Is Walking Meditation?
"It's good to start with what meditation is, and that is a certain quality of skillful awareness," Lambert says. "Walking meditation, then, is not just taking a walk in your neighborhood. It's an intentional practice."
Building awareness of your body and the world around you is an important aspect of doing a walking meditation, but it's not the only purpose of the practice.
"A walking meditation for me is when I take the time and attention to be intentional," Wix says. "It doesn't matter how long or short the walk is, as long as I'm intentionally engaging in my breath and senses as I go."
In other words, a walking meditation can be what you want it to be. You may prefer to focus on your footfall as you walk, or perhaps it feels better to observe the sights and sounds around you as you stroll (more on all of that in a moment).
Whatever your focus, though, the goal is to ground yourself in the moment.
