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Lately, I have been really getting on board with the power of living in the present moment. I have used my new found power to achieve some things I have not been able to do consistently, like getting a good nights sleep, stop living in the past, stop worrying about my future, and accomplish things I want to do with my life. There is no substitute for living in the now. However, living in the now is something small children do naturally but adults seem to be incapable of doing. Here are some tips on how to start living in the now by learning how to do present moment walking. Your first step to mental freedom.

I have previously talked about the numerous benefits of walking in my article, Top 5 Ways to Exercise Naturally. However, I did not get to really talk about how to do present moment walking. What is present moment walking? How is it different than just walking? What is the benefit of present moment walking? How do you do present moment walking? These are all great questions, so lets take a look at each one.

What is Present Moment Walking? How is it Different Than Just Walking?

Many people have a hard time aligning their physical body, actions, and mental focus to achieve congruency in their actions and state of being. Unfortunately, this can lead to massive diluted or weak efforts in just about everything we do. It is not possible for the mind to have more than one thought at a time. Many thoughts constantly float in and out of our heads, but never more than one at a time. This usually results in not being fully present in each action we take, not being mentally present where we are physically at, or not having absolute focus on what we are currently doing. Over time, it gets harder to focus on what we are doing because of our minds constantly wandering off to think or worry about more interesting or scary stuff than what we are doing at that present moment.

Walking is a great example of our minds being disconnected from what we are doing since walking is something we do on autopilot. While on autopilot, our mind is able to think about all sorts of things while we walk such as stuff that happened in our past, or something we anticipate will happen in the future. Or we might listen to music while we walk to drown out all other thoughts. Either way, we are not in the present moment because our mind is not really where we are at, or on what we are doing.

Present moment walking is really just walking in the most natural way possible. Which is, being present with each step we take.

What is the Benefit of Present Moment Walking?

Present moment walking is a great way to start letting go of your stress and/or worries and empower you to start taking control of your thoughts. Imagine if you could summon up laser like focus on anything task you choose. Think about the type of quality you could turn out and the level of enjoyment you could experience. Also, your mind will start to naturally focus on whatever you want it too instead of being constantly distracted by random thoughts popping in and out of your head. Present moment walking will help gently discipline your mind so you can have 100% focus on the task or activity you are currently engaged in.

Present moment walking will also help you avoid mental fatique and exhaustion since you will not be wasting your precious brain power. A good analogy is like driving your car around with a leak in your gas tank. You can’t get as far because most of your fuel gets wasted and never used. Mental fatique and exhaustion is very similar to this. You leak a lot of energy by thinking about all the random thoughts that jump in and out of your head. If the thoughts are negative or demotivating then it is even worse. By retraining yourself to be in the present moment you can avoid mental exhaustion and fatique.

How Do You Do Present Moment Walking?

For the most part, present moment walking is easy to do. You will need to be aware of your senses of hearing, sight, and touch. All you have to do is use these senses to take in as much information as you can as you walk.

Use Your Sense of Hearing

For me, it seems to be easier to use my sense of hearing to stay in the now. As I walk, I try to hear every sound no matter how loud or quiet it may be. You can imagine that you have super hearing like superman and try to pick up on the smallest sounds going on around you and in you like your heartbeat or your breath. Challenge yourself to hear as many sounds as you can for the duration of your walk.

Using your sense of sound usually works well even if you walk the same route as sounds tend to be different everyday or even at different times of the day. You never know what you are going to hear.

Use Your Sense of Sight

You can also use your sense of sight to pick up a lot of visual information while you walk. You will be amazed at all the details you normally ignore. You want to see as much detail as you can for as many objects you come across on your walk. For example if you see a tree, try to see all the leaves you can. Then as you get closer you can focus on all the details that nature has put into the design of each leaf. You will be amazed  at the level of detail. You could also focus on the bark of the tree and try to discover what details you can find there. Flowers are exceptionally amazing to look at.

Use Your Sense of Touch

Using your sense of touch is very natural to do for just about everyone. Feel your breath going in and out nose, throat, chest, and diaphragm. Feel the sensation of the wind on your face and skin. What does the sun feel like when it hits your face or skin? How does your feet, calves and legs feel as you walk?  What sensations do you feel inside of your body? Take moment to touch a flower, the bark of a tree, or walk barefooted in the grass. What sensations do you feel?

Additional Tips For Present Moment Walking

1. When you walk put a slight smile on your face. This will improve your overall mood and also help you stay in the present moment. It will also associate good feeling with a healthy activity.

2. Don’t label things you see and hear along your walk. For example don’t see a bird and then say, “Oh, that is a Robin” or “That flower is red.” When we use labels, our brains instantly start locking out details because it thinks it knows what the object is just because we have a name or definition for it. This sort of knowledge is only surface level and does not mean we actually know what the object is.

3. You want to see everything as if it is the first time you have seen it before. Like a child exploring for the first time. This also goes for the sounds you hear. You can also do this with people you see. Don’t just look at them, but really look at them. Pay attention with your inner self in a non-judgemental sort of way. Notice all the details in their face, body language, and sound of their voice. Look at your wife or husband as if you have not seen them in 50 years.

4. Let go of the mental chatter, comments, and judgements. The purpose of this walk is to be in the now. You don’t need sideline commentary from your mind on all the action giving you the play by play like a sportscast announcer. You want silence in your mind as you just take in the information. You don’t actively process the information or judge it in anyway. You just let it come in, observe it, and let it go out…that’s all.

5. Also try walking new routes from time to time. This will help you in the beginning to stay in the present moment as your mind will naturally be able to focus on the things around you if the scenery is new.

Conclusion:

Present moment walking can benefit you on many levels of your life. The benefits of having absolute focus and elimination of mental fatigue are too substantial to ignore. Each present moment walk will free your mind more and more of random thoughts and bring you closer to the power of controlled thought. Working with laser like focus can really energize your life.

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