How to Meditate and Calm Down
Make sure you have a safe place to walk., Decide how long you want to walk., Stand still., Start walking., Become aware of your feet., Keep returning to the walking., Return back to home/school/work whenever you feel ready.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Make sure you have a safe place to walk.
While you can practice walking meditation any time you are walking anywhere (e.g. while walking to school or work), if you are new to the practice, it’s best to choose a place where you can walk without encountering traffic.It is important to be safe while walking.
While this type of meditation is great for calming down and relaxing, you do have to remain aware of what you are doing and where you are walking.
It is not meant to be a trance-like state. -
Step 2: Decide how long you want to walk.
You can walk for five minutes if that's all you have time for, but you can also walk for 30 minutes or an hour if you have the time, and are feeling particularly anxious and caught up in the daily grind.
Knowing how long you want to walk can be helpful in choosing a place to walk.
If you know you’re only going to walk for five minutes, you can probably find a small park to walk through.
If you are feeling very upset about something you can also skip this step and just dive straight into walking.
You can walk for as long as you feel like walking or until you feel that you’ve calmed down. , Before you begin your walking meditation, start by standing still outside.
Take a few deep breaths, and breathe as deeply as you can into your belly.
Try to notice your breath and how it feels going into your body, and then how it feels as you exhale.After you take a few deep breaths, return to your normal breathing, but try to stay focused on your normal breathing.
Try to become aware of how your body is feeling.
Notice any soreness you might have or any tension you are feeling.
Some also recommend setting an “intention” before each meditation session.
If you are meditating to calm down, you could make this your intention.
For example, while you are standing there breathing, think about exactly what it is that is upsetting you, but don’t think about what you are going to do about it.
Say to yourself, “During this meditation, I want to calm myself.” You could also simply say to yourself, “Calm.”, Now that you have become more aware of your physical and emotional feelings, start walking.
You don’t need to walk fast.
Instead, just walk at a pace that feels comfortable for you.While you walk, try to stay focused on the physical sensations that you feel as you walk.
For example, do you notice any pain in your knees? How do your feet feel as they touch the ground? You will probably get distracted by something you notice while you are walking, or your mind will want to wander back to whatever upset you.
Don’t get even more upset by beating yourself up about this.
When you notice your thoughts have wandered, simply go back to focusing on how walking feels. , As you walk, start to pay attention to how your feet feel.
How do they feel as they touch the ground? How do the socks feel on your feet? Are your shoes tied tightly, or are they a bit loose?Once you have spent some time focusing on your feet, slowly start to move upwards.
For example, move to your ankles.
Think about the sensation of your ankle joints allowing your feet to flex and relax.
Then continue to move slowly up your body stopping anywhere you notice tension.
When you notice tension in the body, focus on letting that tension go.
Let the tension in your hips relax, and allow them to swing loosely.
Visualize the tension leaving your body and floating away. , Inevitably, especially if you are very stressed, you will find it difficult to remain focused on yourself.
Don’t get upset about this as it is normal for most people.
When you notice that your mind has wandered to something that has upset you or that has stressed you out just do your best to refocus your mind on the sensations of walking.Remember that meditation is a practice.
This means that you aren’t meant to become the ultimate master of meditation in a month or even a year, but instead that you can practice meditating to become better at it.
You will have some days where it is very easy to stay calm and focused, and some days you will find it nearly impossible. , If you have set yourself a time limit, then return when your time is up.
On the other hand, if you are walking until you feel more calm, return when you feel like you have calmed down enough.
Having a calm mind will allow you to deal with the problem with less anger, and may help you see solutions you weren’t able to see before. -
Step 3: Stand still.
-
Step 4: Start walking.
-
Step 5: Become aware of your feet.
-
Step 6: Keep returning to the walking.
-
Step 7: Return back to home/school/work whenever you feel ready.
Detailed Guide
While you can practice walking meditation any time you are walking anywhere (e.g. while walking to school or work), if you are new to the practice, it’s best to choose a place where you can walk without encountering traffic.It is important to be safe while walking.
While this type of meditation is great for calming down and relaxing, you do have to remain aware of what you are doing and where you are walking.
It is not meant to be a trance-like state.
You can walk for five minutes if that's all you have time for, but you can also walk for 30 minutes or an hour if you have the time, and are feeling particularly anxious and caught up in the daily grind.
Knowing how long you want to walk can be helpful in choosing a place to walk.
If you know you’re only going to walk for five minutes, you can probably find a small park to walk through.
If you are feeling very upset about something you can also skip this step and just dive straight into walking.
You can walk for as long as you feel like walking or until you feel that you’ve calmed down. , Before you begin your walking meditation, start by standing still outside.
Take a few deep breaths, and breathe as deeply as you can into your belly.
Try to notice your breath and how it feels going into your body, and then how it feels as you exhale.After you take a few deep breaths, return to your normal breathing, but try to stay focused on your normal breathing.
Try to become aware of how your body is feeling.
Notice any soreness you might have or any tension you are feeling.
Some also recommend setting an “intention” before each meditation session.
If you are meditating to calm down, you could make this your intention.
For example, while you are standing there breathing, think about exactly what it is that is upsetting you, but don’t think about what you are going to do about it.
Say to yourself, “During this meditation, I want to calm myself.” You could also simply say to yourself, “Calm.”, Now that you have become more aware of your physical and emotional feelings, start walking.
You don’t need to walk fast.
Instead, just walk at a pace that feels comfortable for you.While you walk, try to stay focused on the physical sensations that you feel as you walk.
For example, do you notice any pain in your knees? How do your feet feel as they touch the ground? You will probably get distracted by something you notice while you are walking, or your mind will want to wander back to whatever upset you.
Don’t get even more upset by beating yourself up about this.
When you notice your thoughts have wandered, simply go back to focusing on how walking feels. , As you walk, start to pay attention to how your feet feel.
How do they feel as they touch the ground? How do the socks feel on your feet? Are your shoes tied tightly, or are they a bit loose?Once you have spent some time focusing on your feet, slowly start to move upwards.
For example, move to your ankles.
Think about the sensation of your ankle joints allowing your feet to flex and relax.
Then continue to move slowly up your body stopping anywhere you notice tension.
When you notice tension in the body, focus on letting that tension go.
Let the tension in your hips relax, and allow them to swing loosely.
Visualize the tension leaving your body and floating away. , Inevitably, especially if you are very stressed, you will find it difficult to remain focused on yourself.
Don’t get upset about this as it is normal for most people.
When you notice that your mind has wandered to something that has upset you or that has stressed you out just do your best to refocus your mind on the sensations of walking.Remember that meditation is a practice.
This means that you aren’t meant to become the ultimate master of meditation in a month or even a year, but instead that you can practice meditating to become better at it.
You will have some days where it is very easy to stay calm and focused, and some days you will find it nearly impossible. , If you have set yourself a time limit, then return when your time is up.
On the other hand, if you are walking until you feel more calm, return when you feel like you have calmed down enough.
Having a calm mind will allow you to deal with the problem with less anger, and may help you see solutions you weren’t able to see before.
About the Author
Lisa Hughes
Creates helpful guides on crafts to inspire and educate readers.
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