This week we spent a day practising different types of formal mindfulness meditation. This might sound daunting, but because the time was split into sessions of no more than 40 minutes, most of our group seemed to have no difficulty. We practised mindfulness while lying, sitting, standing , walking and during some simple yoga movements. I’ll talk about standing and walking today, you can read more about sitting and lying meditation (the body scan) in Week 2, and Week 3.
Standing Meditation
What is it?
This is meditation just like any of the other practices, just performed while standing.
How do you do it?
Its usually best to stand in an upright (but relaxed) , dignified posture-often described in the Yoga tradition as the Mountain Pose.
Stand with your legs about hip-width apart, your knees not locked. Gently pull down your tailbone ( the lower end of your backbone), and allow the spine to lengthen. Let the shoulders fall back, so that the chest is open.
Bring your attention to the body, to how it feels, to the weight pushing through your feet into the floor. Notice how your weight is distributed through the feet. Are you leaning backwards with the weight mostly through the heels, or forwards with it through the balls of your feet. Perhaps allow your position to adjust until you feel the weight is balanced.
As with most forms of meditation you can then pay attention to your breath, at the nostrils, the belly or elsewhere in the body, or try imagining the in-breath coming up through the ground into your feet and then out through the nostrils.
This position is useful if you’re feeling drowsy as its difficult to fall asleep while standing 
. And its also helpful when you’re restless- as there’s no where to go. You’re simply there, rooted to the ground.
How To Move to Walking Mediation
Stay in the mountain pose for a while then when you feel ready begin to walk. Try to let your steps follow your breathing, lifting one foot with the in-breath, placing it back on the ground with the out-breath, then lifting the other foot with the next in-breath and so on. Let the movements follow the breath rather than the other way around.
Try to pay attention to the each movement within a step. Where in the body does the motion start? Is there any shifting of weight before the foot is lifted- where is it? Then watch the foot lift off the ground, notice which part lifts first. Follow the foot as it moves through the air, and when it comes to the ground. Feel the shifting of weight , the movement of the leg and hip over that foot after it’s on the ground. Then follow the next step.
As with other forms of meditation thoughts and emotions will turn up. As always this is OK, and quite normal, and actually part of the whole process. Just bring your mind back to your body, back to the step. Try to move fully into the sensations of the breath and the movements of the body.
Walking slowly makes the movements within each step easier to follow, and is the way most people begin, But you can be mindful of walking and other movements at normal speeds, although it might be easier just to follow the back and forth movements of the upper legs, or the swing of the hips.
Where Do you Do it?
You can do it anywhere, but often its easier to start at home or in the garden if you have one. It helps not to have to think too much about where you’re going, or to really be going anywhere in particular. So a space which allows say 10 steps back and forth is ideal.
Taking Meditation into Everday Life
This kind of meditation is an ideal bridge between sitting meditation, and everyday life, encouraging us to bring our practice into daily activities.
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Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Course (Series):
Next week Compassion meditation
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Photo at top of page by skyseeker
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