Walk for Health and Meditation

A lot of us know that walking is great for relaxing your mind. Speaking for myself... I love walking for an hour along the beach path... or along a lake... this way, I can "zone out" and just focus on my breathing, hearing and seeing... I don't worry about work, issues with other people or the 1000s of other things that bother us every day.

Just walk for health and meditation is what I do. Now, a lot of folks get a little mixed up and equate walking with weight loss... although it is a topic for another article... I want to tell you that for me... walking is all about improving mental health rather than exercising the body. However, if you are in shape... than you can try a more strenuous walk up a mountain or anywhere that has a lot of climbing.

But moderate walking does have some health benefits... but for the purposes of losing weight... you may want to pick up a few books and focus on the diet aspect since diet is responsible for 90% of weight loss.

But enough of that for now...

Another great thing about moderate walking progam is that it is basically a way to get around without a lot of risk of injury. As human beings... we were more designed for walking to and from one place... rather than jogging or biking... but sometimes our ancestors had to run for short bursts from predators.

But walking is king for most of us.

Another thing I love about walking is you don't need very much equipment to get the job done. Just wear some comfortable clothing [wear layers if it is cold or cooler out there] and a good pair of walking shoes or boots. You may need to bring along some warm headgear or a hat if the sun is really hot.

Other than that... there isn't much more you need to get the most out of walking.

And when you are walking... try a little meditation or as I like to call it... mindful walking.

Now you are NOT going to wander around like a chicken with its head cut off... No. You will be focusing on each step you take... And you can walk slower than normal until you get the hang of the meditation walking.

As you take each step... see if you can feel how light or heavy your foot feels as they take a step forward. And remember... meditation has its roots in Buddhism... and one of the concepts is that you be in touch with your senses. So "feel" yourself as you walk... the weight of your feet... the slow and steady breathing patterns. The pitter-patter of your heart beats.

And meditation is all about focusing on walking... not about all the problems and stresses in your day. And sure, your mind may want to drift back into the negative thoughts... you need to return your focus inward and feel yourself. Be in the moment and live. Be alive.

There are many different forms of meditations... but walking meditation is a combination of walking for health... mental health. So it is very important too.

Another thing I want to mention is that it is important to choose a place that is calm and serene. And most of all... a pretty safe area. Try to avoid places that you don't feel comfortable walking in and avoid the places that is loud and disruptive... such as walking near a busy street or a construction zone.

When you start out... it may feel a little strange and for some of you... a little hard. But try to stick with it... for at least twenty minutes.

And as you get better at meditating while walking... you can try to go for a longer period of time. I love walking for about an hour... and when I'm back home... I feel calm and refreshed.

I truly hope you will give this a try,

Kate

P.S. I recommend the hour long Totally Tranquil meditation track by Holothink that you can download immediately and burn it on a CD or even copy it to your Ipod and use it whenever and wherever you find a need to get instant stress relief.

You can sign up at the link above for a FREE 10 minute demo to refresh your mental state and feel re-energized and focused by the end of the track

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