Yoga Walking

Yoga walking is enlightenment while walking. This is the ultimate kick so to speak! It’s health training, stress reduction, and inner happiness in one. Yoga walking is your daily pilgrimage into the light. Be sure to undertake all the 10 key elements each time, as outlined in the following steps, to get the most benefit from yoga walking.
1.  Stomp your anger into the ground while you walk. Let out all the pent-up anger by releasing it through your feet as you walk. What has annoyed you lately? Don’t let it vex you any longer; let it go by stomping it out.
2.  Feel your sadness. Resolve feelings of sadness by walking it out. Feel your sadness inside and process it. What makes you sad today? Think several times the mantra: “I’m sad because …”
3.  Rotate your shoulders. Do this to remove any tension in your shoulders and your neck. Find the optimal way of moving your shoulders to achieve the best effect.
4.  Rotate your spine. When walking, turn your spine to the right, and then to the left, several times. Do this gently, and turn your head with your body.
5.  Allow a healing color to trickle through your body from head to foot. Think the name of the color as a mantra. What color do you need now? See what comes to you. It will be different for everyone at different times. “Orange, blue, gold, red…”
6.  Feel your connection to the ground world as you walk. Feel the earth beneath your feet. Think the mantra “Earth” and breathe for a minute concentrating your feet and their connection to the earth.
7.  Move one hand and send someone a positive sentence. What do you want to say to him or her today? Think of the phrase several times as a mantra. Send light to the world and think: “May all beings be happy. May the world be happy.”
8.  Focus on different areas of your body and release tension held in those areas.  Focus on the head, chest, abdomen, legs, feet, and into the ground (beneath the feet). Do this during your walk and you will quickly and effectively relieve tension that has built up in all major areas of your body.
9.  Visualize a beautiful sun in the sky and clothe yourself with a golden ray of sunshine. Fill yourself with light. Think the word “Light” as a mantra, many times over.
10.  Stop all thoughts. For five minutes while walking, focus solely on the walking and your breathing.  Allow your mind to become calm. Rest a while. Let all thoughts come and then go bringing the focus back to your walking and breathing.
Walk freely. Go whichever way you feel you want to. Enjoy it. Observe how your mind slowly becomes positive. You are now back from your pilgrimage into the light.

• After each yoga walking session, realize that you have done something wonderful and caring for your physical health and for your mental well-being. Keep your happiness. The light will accompany you through your whole day.

A short tale about the virtue of yoga walking:

• There once was a woman who was constantly worried. She worried about everything. She worried about her children, her friends, about having enough money to live on and about her health. She wore herself out with her cares and concerns. She was afraid that she could no longer control her fear, and feared that she might not have enough inner strength in the long run to defeat the constant worrying thoughts.  Then she got the idea to walk every day for half an hour. She decided upon a favorable time for her and looked for a suitable location. She bought comfortable clothes to wear, airy clothes for sunny days, and an umbrella and sturdy shoes for rainy days; light clothes for summer, and something warm for the winter. Then she started her daily walks.  In the beginning she found it very difficult to go every day. But after about three months, she had become accustomed to it and walking had become an integral part of her life. She discovered that she had gained much inner strength. Her mind was positive, and her fears were lessened. Her health improved, and over the years, she became an enthusiastic devotee of yoga walking.

Adapted from How to Do Yoga Walking.