120 • PART II: MINDFULNESS IN EDUCATING FOR SELF-REGULATION AND ENGAGEMENT
a walking meditation, you and your students should choose a quiet and pleasant space,
although this is not entirely necessary.
To illustrate, when I teach walking meditation at the University at Buffalo, we meet late
in the evening. The building is quiet, and the class walks together throughout the building.
I lead, and the students simply need to follow the person in front of them. We walk past class-
rooms with instruction ongoing, up and down stairs, through the quiet hallways, and across
more crowded meeting places. The focus is on the walking and the noticing. Students find it
compelling to explore what they noticed as they walked the same hallways they walk every
day. The shift is substantial. When we share what was observed, the students describe the
humming of the building, the moving of the water in the walls, and the echoing of our steps in
the hallway. There is an expansion of awareness that comes with tuning in and slowing down.
You can adapt walking meditations for younger children by adding a simple narration as
you walk (Willard, 2016). This is much like the verbal tracking done by a play therapist. You
simply track what is happening while you walk. For example, you might say the following:
I am watching each step as I walk carefully and mindfully. I notice my heel as
it connects to the floor and the ball of my foot as it connects to the ground just
before my toes feel the ground. I am noticing my breath moving in and out as it
moves along with my footsteps. I see the path as we walk and notice the gravel
beneath my feet. I hear the sounds as my feet crunch into the gravel with each
step. I see the grass along the path and its green blades—some bending into the
path and some reaching to the sky. I see my friends walk in front of me and hear
my friends walking behind me. I feel the sun on my cheeks as I move.Other ideas include walking with pennies on your shoes and trying not to drop one
(Willard, 2016). Where should you walk? The choice is yours and your students’. Gardens
and labyrinths can be beautiful places for walking meditation. It can be a fun class project to
create a walking-meditation labyrinth. Rechtschaffen (2014) recommends nature walks and
getting outside to bring awareness to the elements of nature. Walking meditation incorpo-
rates the following principles of embodied learning and growth (see Chapter 3): principle 3,
I am mindfully aware; principle 4, I work toward presence in my physical body; principle 6,
I ask questions about my physical experience, feelings, and thoughts; principle 7, I choose
my focus and actions; and principle 8, I do the work.
PRACTICE SCRIPT 6.5: WALkING MEDITATION
Approximate timing: 1 minute for introduction; 20+ minutes for practice
Begin your walking meditation by standing with your feet hip distance apart, hands at your sides,
shoulders soft, and tailbone neutral. Eyes open, chin neutral, look around. See what you see. Take
in the external. Do you see people? Are there trees or grass? Are you inside; do you see the floor
and furniture? Take it all in. Check in on what you are experiencing inside as well. How do your
feet feel on the ground? Is the surface hard or soft? Do you feel supported? Scan your body from
your feet to the crown of your head, across your shoulders and down your arms to your fingertips.
Do you feel tension? Are you relaxed? Can you breathe into any tension you are feeling and let
(continued )