This is part of The Daily Meditation Experiment, where I am practicing one school of meditation per week (well, it’s supposed to be a week. I hasn’t been, really) to understand the overall structure & effects of each.

Meditation Method: Walking Meditation

This is really a simple meditation style. I go for a walk. Done. I can listen to music, think my thoughts, practice parkour, take pictures, whatever.

Adherence: 41 %

I have practiced this meditation for 75 days (a week per meditation style, ha!).

As usual, I am terrible at practicing my meditation.

I have learned that I am MUCH more likely to practice it if I wake up and begin my day with my morning ritual (which has me doing yoga outside as one of the first things, then meditating).

I’ll try to improve upon this for my next meditation, and have a chosen an easier style to help achieve this.

Thoughts

The first time I tried walking meditation, it was amazing. I walked around the local area of Ubud’s alley roads. I saw cool construction sites, petted dogs, discovered beautiful hidden gardens, and even ran across a white woman who had evidently married a Balinese man and was walking down the street wearing home-cloths and yelling in Bahasa Indonesia.

I recorded my thoughts during the meditation, and remarked that it’s like a ticket to explore. I’ve uploaded that recording here:

But then I went back to Asha’s parent’s place in Singapore. It’s just a series of huge cement apartment buildings in the boondocks of Singapore.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a beautiful and fascinating place. Singapore’s government takes quite excellent care of it’s people, and this place is full of well-designed paths, nice looking parks, lots of trees, and the beautifully designed front yards of the tenants. And a lot of stray cats. I even saw a group of workers installing some solar panels on the roofs.

But it’s also very monotonous. Everything looks exactly the same for half an hour in any direction. After a few days, I got bored and it became a chore.

It’s also an excellent way to clear one’s thoughts. Going for a walk when you’re feeling confused or stymied or emotional is a good way to work it out (especially if you just talk it out, stream-of-thought style, into a mic).

Results:

Deeply enjoyed exploring new places, and was able to see parts of them I would normally not see with a relaxed and exploratory mindset I would normally not have.

Was able to work out many mental roadblocks and intense emotions.

Was able to relax and just think and philosophize.

A significantly greater appreciation for the beauty in the details of places.

Conclusion

This is an absolutely excellent meditation style to engage in for anywhere from half an hour to a whole day when you’re somewhere new and interesting.

However, it has few lasting effects if it is simply done every single day in the same place.

When stationary, I’d prefer to practice mindfulness meditation or The Flame & The Void.