A lot of people tell me they have a hard time sitting still and meditating. However, meditation doesn’t have to mean sitting still. The context of meditating isn’t about being still. It is about being present. It is not about having no thoughts. It is about being free from your thoughts.

Meditation helps you shift to a state of awareness and being. This doesn’t always have to be sitting still. One of the most amazing ways to meditate is through walking.

Walking meditation not only helps us reach a meditative state. It also helps us bring that meditative state into everything else we do. 

Walking meditation is a very powerful and simple meditation that Buddhists and Hindus throughout Asia and India have been practicing for thousands of years. Meditation isn’t only about sitting still; it’s about bringing a meditative quality to your whole life.

These spiritual practitioners believe that every moment of your life is a meditation. They have walking meditation, eating meditation, sleeping meditation, and sitting meditation, so that everything they do becomes a meditation. This brings the greatest level of awareness, enlightenment, joy, peace, bliss, and gratitude to every moment of their lives. We can all benefit from this practice.

For walking meditation, all you need to do is find a place where you can safely walk, away from traffic or bicycles coming at you. It can be on a grass field, in a backyard or front yard. It can also be in a large room where you’re able to walk around. The quieter the space, the better, but it’s not necessary. Any place that’s available to you for walking in safety is all you need.

Begin by walking very slowly, letting your heel strike the ground and your foot roll forward, as you shift your weight from one foot to the other. As the toes of one foot rise off the ground, your other foot lowers to the floor heel first and slowly rolls forward.

The most important thing is to be present with every step, fully feeling the heel come down and sensing the ground under your foot as it rolls forward. Then, feel your foot as it comes off the ground, the toes rising and lifting into the air.

To begin, try doing one foot at a time. Allow your foot to come down, heel to toe. Then, while that foot is settled, lift your other foot and place it down in front. Once that foot has settled onto the ground, slowly lift the other foot.”

In walking meditation, it’s about being present in every step — feeling each foot as the heel comes down, shifting the weight as the foot rolls forward, sensing the toes meeting the ground, feeling the other foot lift off and settle down, then shifting your weight to that foot as the other foot slowly comes off the ground. It’s about experiencing every sensation in every step.

As your mind wanders into thoughts — gently and without force, effort, resistance, or judgment — bring your attention back to your step.

Meditation is about whatever you’re doing, being fully present and doing it with your full attention. Not lost in thought, worrying about the past or the future, just present and finding the peace and bliss that come from no longer wanting to be somewhere else or for things to be different. Enjoy the present moment; allow whatever sounds arise to come in without judging them or labeling them.

Notice how all sensations arise and fall away, how everything is temporary. Be in the present moment, observing sensations come and go, staying in your feet, legs, and body. You can look down at the ground or up at the trees, whatever feels natural and safe, but keep your full conscious awareness in each step, finding peace and stillness in each moment.