This New Take on Moving Meditation Levels Up Your Daily Walk

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If you buy through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission. This supports our mission to get more people active and outside. Learn about Outside Onlines affiliate link policy The integration of mindfulness and movement is not a new endeavor. In fact, one could argue that any type of movement becomes mindful when you’re striving for a certain level of awareness. But sometimes, getting intentional about how you’re moving can transform your chosen activity into something approximating meditation—as with the trend of “walking yoga.” Walking yoga is an approach to walking meditation that asks that you meet the moment—in this case, being aware of your steps—and focusing less on your thoughts and more on what you’re doing and the world around you. The practice has been gaining popularity in recent months, mentioned in movement programs there’s even a designated app and across social media. At its core, walking yoga is about aligning your breath with your steps. But paying extra attention and even enjoying a natural-feeling yoga pose factors in, too. Think elements of your yoga practice, adapted for an on-the-move moment. Like other mindfulness tricks think glimmers and savoring, walking yoga is about transmuting an everyday activity into an avenue of profound presence, all without having to sit in stillness if that’s not your thing. The Benefits of Moving Meditation Moving meditation, especially walking meditation, has been the focus of ample research. W ADVERTISEMENT 5 Ways to Make Any Walk a Yoga Walk If staying mindful while getting your steps in feels like a challenge after all, zoning out to a podcast does have its time and place, these tips can help you start small and build up to the meditative part. 1. Try naming things If you find it tough to get out of your head, even or perhaps especially on a calming walk, noticing and naming things around you can help encourage grounding. Choose something specific, like a color color walks are also trending for similar reasons, an animal, or a type of tree or flowers and simply commit to noticing it—nothing more, nothing less. 2. Incorporate breathwork Incorporating breathing exercises is one of the simplest ways to practice walking yoga. As mentioned, you can start by synchronizing breath and step, inhaling with one set of sets and exhaling with the next. Once you’ve got that down, adding other pranayama, or breathing techniques, can help still your mind and enhance your sense of presence. Purposefully slowing your walking and breathing patterns may feel unnatural at first, but soon you’ll find that a reduced gait comes with even more opportunities for intentionality. Once walking yoga becomes second nature, changing up your pace might make sense. But as with most things, it’s best to start slow. 4. Try listening to a guided body scan meditation or conducting one yourself by mentally moving from head to toe or vice versa and noticing each of your many, many body parts. Pay attention to how each element moves, feels, and works in tandem with the rest of your body to propel you down your chosen path. 5. As a bonus, you’ll be stretching different areas of the body.,