How taking mindful walks helps increase my mental clarity and wellbeing.
We know the default state of mind in the present is fulfilment. When our mind is time-travelling — jumping to the future and the past — we pick up stress, anxiety, and depressive impulses. When we’re mindful, we’re in the present. This is when we can function at our most loving to ourselves and those we encounter.
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I was navigating the streets of Stockholm with the sounds of cars whizzing and Stockholmers talking to each other. This time, I chose to take a quiet stroll through the narrow streets of the historic district.
It seemed a stark contrast to the mindful walks I do in earthy, sweet-smelling wood paths in the archipelago, where sounds of silence in nature are abundant.
While these two walks seem to be opposing sides of the mindfulness spectrum, I think every walk has the potential to be a mindful one. It all depends on how we frame it.
At a fundamental level, walking takes us away from screens — ideally, our phones. The simple cadence of walking helps bring us to a place of focus. And it creates good conditions for becoming more mindful.
Any time we can bring mindfulness into the moment. We come into the present, and that’s where there are benefits. We can decide whether a moment for mindfulness is through the city, the country, or an entirely new destination.
A daily walk makes you awake to what you notice while walking. This intention allows you to reconnect with the present moment and with what you’re feeling.
On the other hand, our dependence on our phones is making us less autonomous. We trust the map rather than our own navigational system. We trust in our phones’ suggestions rather than following our noses.
The good thing about urban walking is encountering people, which can help you recognize the ego: this is a wealthy person, this is a poor person, this is someone I find attractive, this is someone I don’t find attractive. The ego tends to classify everything as good or bad.
Walking through the forest, you don’t classify a tree as a good or a bad tree. You recognize it as trees. We have this serene neutrality around trees.
It can be a beautiful exercise to observe people in an urban setting as trees — to try to disrupt the categorizing function. And the way you disrupt it to step back and watch it.
It enables you to suspend your judgment temporarily. We can have such beautiful lives when we have no beliefs.
So I have been reflecting on a set of points below that are beneficial to my wellbeing while doing walking meditations:
- Leave your phone at home
No music or podcasts, either. Not possible? Keep it tucked away. - Look with fresh eyes
Even if you’ve taken the same route many times, try to come into it with a beginner’s mind. - Quiet your inner judge
Our brains tend to categorize everything. Instead of judging people, try to wish them peace. - Focus your attention
Focus on the feeling of your feet touching the ground. Can you notice a difference between thinking about your feet and feeling them making contact with the floor or the earth? Can you let yourself experience what it’s like to be grounded and connected as you consciously choose to be present for this walk? - Pause now and then
Another way you might heighten the sensory experience of walking is to stop right in your tracks if you’re able and appropriate. Notice in a specific way what it feels like to be grounded. It brings you back, right here, right now, coming back over and over and over. At the end of your walk, notice how you feel, and check in with each of your senses.
Giving ourselves as many opportunities for adventure as possible is essential. When we trust ourselves, it’s easier to be in relationships with other people. It’s easier to find a purpose. And the more we outsource, the less we trust ourselves as autonomous beings.
