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There is a stretch of the evening where the day is over but your body has not been told yet. This 10-minute guided walking meditation takes an unhurried stroll through that gap, letting each breath out carry a little more of the day off your shoulders. By the end the winding down has already started, well before you are anywhere near the bedroom.
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 to notice the leftover hum of the day without having to push it away.
- The long sigh out, and the way the shoulders and the hands answer it.
- Letting the replay come, and deciding you do not have to hold any of it tonight.
How to get the most out of this walk:
- Go slower than usual, and let this be the slowest walk you take all day.
- Keep it dark and quiet if you can, and leave any screens until afterward.
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.
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[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. But before we begin, let's hear a quick word from our sponsors so the rest of your walk can stay calm and uninterrupted.
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[00:00:56] Hey there. Whatever today held, it's behind you now. And this little walk is where you begin to let it go. There's no agenda for these next few minutes. We're simply going to use this walk to unwind, to loosen the grip of the day and let the body begin getting ready for rest. So keep strolling at an easy, unhurried pace. A little slower than usual, if that feels nice.
[00:01:28] Eyes open and soft, taking in the evening around you. There's nothing to accomplish here. This is the part of the day where you finally get to stop trying.
[00:01:41] To begin, just notice how the day has gathered in your body. Maybe the shoulders are up near the ears, the jaw is tight, there's a low hum somewhere, the leftover buzz of everything you did today. You don't have to push any of it away, just notice that it's there, the day still being carried.
[00:02:15] Now let's begin to set it down. Take a slow, full breath in through the nose.
[00:02:32] And let it go with a long, soft sigh out, letting the shoulders fall. Again, breathe in, gathering up the tension of the day. And breathe out, letting it spill down and away, the jaw softening, the hands unclenching.
[00:02:56] And as you keep walking, let each breath out, carry a little more of the day out of the body.
[00:03:29] With every step, you're a little further from the noise of it all, and a little closer to rest.
[00:03:57] If the day wants to replay itself, the conversations, the worries, the things left undone, that's alright, let them come.
[00:04:38] You just don't have to hold them tonight. Let each thought drift on past, like the last of the light leaving the sky.
[00:05:38] There's nothing left to solve right now. The day is done, and you did enough.
[00:06:41] Just a slow, easy walking, letting the body soften and slow with each step.
[00:08:00] You might let your awareness widen to the cooling air, the quiet, the dusk settling in around you.
[00:08:07] And underneath it all, the body winding down, getting ready to rest.
[00:09:56] As your walk comes to an end, notice how things have loosened. The body a little heavier now, a little softer, closer to sleep. Let this be the beginning of your rest. The winding down has already started.
[00:10:20] When you get home, you can carry the softness with you into the quiet of the evening and into sleep. And that brings our practice to a close. Let your attention drift gently back to your walk, and let the day go.
[00:10:50] Rest well tonight.