When most mindfulness practitioners talk about walking meditation, they are talking about the very (almost painfully) slow and deliberate practice of walking and being mindfully aware of what is happening in the process. One step alone can take up to 10 seconds and if you are lucky enough to not fall asleep in the meantime, you might notice the feeling of your heel on the ground and how each muscle moves as you step forward.
I find this process to be painfully boring and frustrating. At the same time, there are many studies showing the positive impact the exercise can have. I decided I wanted to re-imagine the idea of a walking meditation and to link my steps with a breathing technique called extended exhales.
Note: If at anytime during this exercise you feel light-headed or faint, stop immediately.
With extended exhales, the general premise is to extend your exhale for two counts longer than your inhale. So, if you inhale for 3 counts you would exhale for 5. Or if you inhale for 4 counts, you would exhale for 6.
It has profound effects on how we feel because our inhales are linked to our fight or flight response and the exhales are linked to our relaxation response. Since the brain has a hard time distinguishing between stress and a threat to our physical safety the extension of the exhale and relaxation response indicates to our brains that we are not currently in danger and that we can relax.
In order to incorporate extended exhales into a walking meditation think of each step as a count. For 3 steps you will inhale and for 5 steps you will exhale. Or if you inhale for 4 counts you would just inhale for four steps and exhale for 6 steps. Don’t be surprised if you inhale for fewer counts while walking than sitting and be prepared to adjust your inhale and exhale counts down if you are climbing stairs or going up a hill. Just remember to try to make your exhales longer than the inhale, even if you have to go down to only one count difference.
You can walk at whatever pace feels normal to you.
The added benefit of combining the extended exhale practice with walking is that your brain is occupied by counting rather than unhelpful ruminating on the stressful things happening in your life. I often find after this type of walking meditation that I am more calm and more clear-headed. I am able to better cope with whatever stressful event I am dealing with at the time.
It is also great because it is completely office friendly. I used to use it when headed to get coffee, or headed to a meeting or even during a lunch break walk outside (when I had the chance).
