Meditative Benefits of Walking

Walking

Walking is the oldest form of exercise. For most of us, it's an easy and effective way to maintain overall wellness and fitness. Being active and outdoors, whether you're on a walking trail or around your neighborhood, can be very meditative. One of the many ways to cultivate mindfulness is through meditative walking. Walking meditation involves focusing on the physical activity of walking and paying attention to every step. Here's some resources to get you started on the right foot!

In 35 guided mindfulness walks, Glenn Berkenkamp invites us to discover how we sense, move, think, and feel in our bodies--and engage a greater sense of presence and being in our lives. Like any contemplative practice, through walking we can quiet our minds and come to know ourselves better, both within our bodies and the greater world outside ourselves. But with limitless competing demands on our time and energy, and hours spent in cars, walking has fallen by the wayside...and we miss many profound opportunities for increased awareness and vitality.

In this captivating book, neuroscientist Shane O'Mara invites us to marvel at the benefits walking confers on our bodies and brains, and to appreciate the advantages of this uniquely human skill. From walking's evolutionary origins, traced back millions of years to life forms on the ocean floor, to new findings from cutting-edge research, he reveals how the brain and nervous system give us the ability to balance, weave through a crowded city, and run our "inner GPS" system. Walking is good for our muscles and posture; it helps to protect and repair organs, and can slow or turn back the aging of our brains. With our minds in motion we think more creatively, our mood improves, and stress levels fall. Walking together to achieve a shared purpose is also a social glue that has contributed to our survival as a species. As our lives become increasingly sedentary, O'Mara makes the case that we must start walking again--whether it's up a mountain, down to the park, or simply to school and work. In Praise of Walking illuminates the joys, health benefits, and mechanics of walking, and reminds us to get out of our chairs and discover a happier, healthier, more creative self.

In this myth-busting book, Daniel Lieberman, professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard University and a pioneering researcher on the evolution of human physical activity, tells the story of how we never evolved to exercise--to do voluntary physical activity for the sake of health. Using his own research and experiences throughout the world, Lieberman recounts without jargon how and why humans evolved to walk, run, dig, and do other necessary and rewarding physical activities while avoiding needless exertion. Exercised is entertaining and enlightening but also constructive. As our increasingly sedentary lifestyles have contributed to skyrocketing rates of obesity and diseases such as diabetes, Lieberman audaciously argues that to become more active we need to do more than medicalize and commodify exercise. Drawing on insights from evolutionary biology and anthropology, Lieberman suggests how we can make exercise more enjoyable, rather than shaming and blaming people for avoiding it. He also tackles the question of whether you can exercise too much, even as he explains why exercise can reduce our vulnerability to the diseases mostly likely to make us sick and kill us. 

Sometimes it arrives as a moment of joy in the middle of despair. Sometimes you find it next to a trusted friend along an old, well-trodden path. And sometimes, grace has fuzzy ears, a bristled mane, and hope for a new start. Join Rachel Anne Ridge, author of the beloved memoir Flash, in a journey back to the pasture. As she adopts a second rescue donkey as a little brother for Flash--a miniature named Henry--she finds that walking with donkeys has surprising lessons to teach us about prayer, renewing our faith, and connecting to God in fresh ways. Readers all over the world fell in love with Flash and with Rachel's thoughtful, funny, and poignant stories about what life with a donkey can teach you. Now, meet Henry and join him on a walk that could change everything about how you hope, trust, and move forward from past regrets. You can also follow Flash and Henry the Donkeys on Facebook.

Placing one foot in front of the other, embarking on the journey of discovery, and experiencing the joy of exploration--these activities are intrinsic to our nature. Our ancestors traveled long distances on foot, gaining new experiences and learning from them. But as universal as walking is, each of us will experience it differently. For Erling Kagge, it is the gateway to the questions that fascinate him--Why do we walk? Where do we walk from? What is our destination?--and in this book he invites us to investigate them along with him. Language reflects the idea that life is one single walk; the word "journey" comes from the distance we travel in the course of a day. Walking for Kagge is a natural accompaniment to creativity: the occasion for the unspoken dialogue of thinking. Walking is also the antidote to the speed at which we conduct our lives, to our insistence on rushing, on doing everything in a precipitous manner--walking is among the most radical things we can do.

Whether you want to get moving, or keep moving, you need inspiration. Novice walkers and seasoned runners alike will find that inspiration, and so much more, in these stories written by those who know that the toughest step to take in any walk or run is the first. Beginning an athletic pursuit like running or walking for fitness takes a good deal of motivation, determination, and inspiration, all of which can be found in these 101 real-life stories. Written by people who took that all-important, and elusive, first step, these stories will not only help readers get off the couch and get moving, but they'll inspire even the most seasoned of athletes to keep moving. Coauthored by the famous ultramarathoner Dean Karnazes, who brings his own advice to readers, as well as stories from some of the best-known runners in the world.

Turn off those digital devices; it's time to put some mud on those boots! Research shows the most important thing you can do for your family's long-term physical and emotional well-being is introduce them to the great outdoors. Just a few hours out on the trail (or even strolling through the city) can build stamina-and a good mood. In partnership with American Hiking Society, Families on Foot offers practical advice, engaging activities for every age, and even a trail mix recipe to make hiking fun for every family. From tackling diaper blowouts in the backwoods to using apps to engage teens with nature, here's a backpack full of clever ideas for the whole family. Information for children with special needs and seniors is also included. 

An ode to paths and the journeys we take through nature, as told by a gifted writer who stopped driving and rediscovered the joys of traveling by foot. Torbjørn Ekelund started to walk--everywhere--after an epilepsy diagnosis affected his ability to drive. The more he ventured out, the more he came to love the act of walking, and an interest in paths emerged. In this poignant, meandering book, Ekelund interweaves the literature and history of paths with his own stories from the trail. As he walks with shoes on and barefoot, through forest creeks and across urban streets, he contemplates the early tracks made by ancient snails and traces the wanderings of Romantic poets, amongst other musings. If we still "understand ourselves in relation to the landscape," Ekelund asks, then what do we lose in an era of car travel and navigation apps? And what will we gain from taking to paths once again? 

What if every step you took deepened your connection with all of life and imprinted peace, joy, and serenity on the earth? With Walking Meditation, you will enjoy the first in-depth instructional program in this serene spiritual practice to help you walk with presence and peace of mind whether in nature or on a busy city street.