Mindful walking is a gentle, grounded practice to connect with your spirit and nature.
The positive effects of walking are often forgotten as most of us seldom walk long distances anymore because we drive or sit for hours on end during the day. But even walking a few blocks every day has significant health benefits.
Unplugging from our electronics to walk mindfully will improve our physical and mental health as we learn to become more connected to ourselves and our surroundings.
The Many Benefits Of Mindful Walking
Positive Energy
Positive energy flows naturally into our cells at a relaxed pace. Slowing down to mindfully walk lets our bodies reflect and recreate a simpler state of being. A mindful walk allows us to live in the moment rather than rushing from place to place, planning how much more we can accomplish. It encourages us to develop a more grounded sense of self.
We grow more self-aware and conscious of our feelings by slowing down too. When we pay attention to where we are, focusing on the breath as we walk, we might find that problems and troubles from our day fade away as we settle into the present moment.
Notice Your Breath
With mindful walking and focused breathing, a sense of calm and peace develops, resulting in a positive shift in energy. The result, then, is the rejuvenating rest our bodies need to heal.
The act of noticing our breath as we walk and becoming attuned to it is one of the first steps to living mindfully. When we become more mindful in our daily lives, we gradually become more aware of our surroundings, realizing our thoughts and feelings might not reflect where we really are in that present moment.
The Many Benefits Of Mindful Walking
The practice of mindfulness, as a whole, provides several benefits for mental wellbeing. These benefits include being in touch with your emotions, reducing stress levels, and stimulating creative thinking.
Furthermore, after you get the hang of it, walking paired with mindfulness may also ease stress, dramatically improving your quality of life. This form of meditation can also help with insomnia, anxiety, and depression.
Walking mindfully through your favorite park or neighborhood street can also benefit your physical health. Walking’s physical benefits are extensive, including a lower risk of chronic disease and injuries.
Your physical and mental health will also benefit when mindfulness and meditation are added to the equation. Though more research is needed, a review of studies show that meditation may be helpful for:
- Hypertension
- IBS (irritable bowel syndrome)
- Bouts of ulcerative colitis
- Symptoms of menopause
Higher Vibration
As we walk each day and become more aware of our breath, we will notice more of the beauty of the world around us too. An additional benefit is that when we feel really good, we are in a high-vibrational state of being. Here, we can affect the collective consciousness one thousand times more than one who is worried, sad or fearful.
Help yourself and heal the world. Take a walk right now and experience the many benefits of mindful walking.
I am interested in hearing about your mindful walking experiences. Please share how you feel before and after with me below.
>> Read more about our connection to everything around us in my article “Five Ways To Find Joy In The Spaces In Between”
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Kirsti Out Wandering aspires to illustrate well-being in mind, body & spirit, giving unconditional love to self and others, and pursuing all of the wild possibilities life serves up while living full-time from a sprinter van.
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