Thank you for listening! If you enjoy this, please explore our other shows: OLDPodcast.com
And join our free weekly newsletter to get a 200+ page workbook PDF to optimize your life (and the opportunity to get a beautiful hardcover version shipped to you absolutely free!): OLDPodcast.com/newsletter
Some mornings you are out the door before you have really arrived in the day. This 10-minute guided meditation gives you two simple anchors, the breath dropping lower into the belly and the ground meeting your feet, while the mind keeps jumping ahead to the meeting and the inbox. By the time you get where you are going, the day has started on your terms rather than on its own.
Safety note: Keep your eyes open and stay aware of your surroundings. Your safety always comes first. Follow the audio only as far as it's safe to do so.
What you'll explore:
- How letting the shoulders, jaw, and hands go changes the walk before anything else does.
- A way to let your breathing and your stride find each other without counting or forcing it.
- What it does to a busy morning to quietly tell yourself you are here, one landing at a time.
How to get the most out of this walk:
- Use your first walk of the day for this, even if it is only from the door to the car.
- Keep the pace exactly what it already was; nothing here asks you to slow down.
Step Into Calm is a daily walking meditation podcast where each episode is a short guided meditation to help you build mindfulness, ease stress, and find calm, clarity, and focus in just 10 to 15 minutes a day.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
[00:00:00] Welcome to Step Into Calm, the walking meditation podcast where we quiet the busy mind and find a little peace, one step at a time. If you're not already moving, go ahead and start walking now at an easy, comfortable pace. Keep your eyes open and stay aware of the world around you as you listen.
[00:00:22] But before we begin, let's hear a quick word from our sponsors so the rest of your walk can stay calm and uninterrupted. We'll see you in just a moment. Good morning. If you're already moving out the door, down the sidewalk, on your way to wherever the day is taking you, then you're in exactly the right place.
[00:00:47] These next few minutes are a reset, a chance to let the morning settle and to begin the day on your own terms, one step at a time. There's nothing to change about how you're walking. Keep your normal pace, keep your eyes open, and stay aware of what's around you. The curb, the crossings, the people.
[00:01:12] We're simply going to bring a little attention to two simple things. Your breath, and the ground beneath your feet. So as you keep walking, let your shoulders drop. Just let them fall away from your ears. Soften the jaw, and soften the hands.
[00:01:41] There's nothing to hold onto this morning. And now, without changing anything, just notice your breath. The air coming in, and the air going out.
[00:02:08] See if you can let the breath drop a little lower into the belly. Not forced, just easy and full.
[00:02:16] And you might let the rhythm of your breath begin to find each other. Breathing in for a few steps, and breathing out for a few steps. In, and out.
[00:02:59] Now let the breath take care of itself, and bring your tension down to your feet. Feel each step landing. The heel, and then the whole foot meeting the ground.
[00:03:40] That contact, again and again, is the ground holding you up. Steady. Solid. You don't have to carry the morning. The ground is carrying you.
[00:04:10] With each step, you might quietly say to yourself, I'm here. I'm here. Let your awareness widen now, out into the morning around you.
[00:05:36] The air on your face. Cool, or mild, or fresh. The light, and the sounds of the world starting to wake up.
[00:06:43] Just taking it in, without needing to do anything about it.
[00:06:47] And whenever the mind jumps ahead to the meeting, the inbox, the list, that's completely normal.
[00:07:44] Just notice it, and come back. To this breath, and this step.
[00:08:35] This is the reset. Not somewhere else, later. Right here, while you're moving.
[00:09:28] As you keep walking, let the attention soften and open. You can carry this with you. This steadiness. This easy breath.
[00:10:00] The day may ask a lot of you, but you get to begin it grounded. One breath, one step, and then the next. May your path be peaceful. May you move through this day with ease.
[00:10:29] And whenever you're ready, you can let your practice come to a close. Or, let your practice come to your two-risk house. But that one should be warm.