Guided Meditation · Free Resources

Walking Meditation

For the feeling that refuses to sit down.

Some states cannot be met on a cushion. Anger, agitation and the restlessness that makes stillness unbearable all have energy in them, and that energy wants somewhere to go. Walking meditation gives it a direction without giving it a target.

Sit with Aparna

Audio Session

A guided walking practice for a restless body.

Aparna is recording this one. Until it arrives, the written practice below will carry you.

Recording coming soon

What it's for

Telling an angry body to sit still asks it to do the one thing it cannot. The energy is real, it is physical, and it does not disappear because you disapprove of it. Walking lets the body work through what it is carrying while your attention stays with it.

This is a practice, not a cooling-off stroll. You are not walking to get anywhere, and you are not walking to think it through. You are walking to feel your feet, and to notice how the heat in your chest changes over ten minutes when nobody is arguing with it.

How to practice

Ten to twenty minutes · indoors or out

Feet first, at half speed

Walk slower than feels natural. The slowness is what turns walking into practice.

  1. Pick a stretch of ground: a corridor, a garden path, twenty steps of pavement.
  2. Stand still first. Feel both feet on the ground and take three breaths before you move.
  3. Walk at about half your usual pace. Let your hands hang, or rest them behind your back.
  4. Put your attention in the soles of your feet. Feel the lift, the swing, the placing down.
  5. When the argument starts replaying, and it will, return to the feet. Every return counts.
  6. At the end of the stretch, stop fully. Turn around slowly. Notice the pause before you set off again.
  7. Finish standing still. Check what the chest and the jaw are doing now compared to when you started.

If this is more than a hard day

Lemon Dojo teaches meditation. It is not therapy, medical care, or a crisis service, and a practice is not the right tool for an emergency. If you are struggling to keep yourself safe, please reach a person today rather than a page.

Where to go next

I'm angry and can't think Back to the remedy Meditating with Body Sensations Sensation as your anchor All free resources Every practice in one place