![]() Notice the light floral fragrances mingling with each other. – As you walk past flower-filled hedgerows or people’s gardens, breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth.Stretch out your hands to engage your fingers too, feeling the air between them. – Notice the air on your skin and the warmth of sunshine on your cheeks.Pay attention to the feeling of the ground beneath you. – Follow the motion of your footsteps as your heels hit the ground then roll through to your toes.Now, start to focus on each sense in turn. You want to elevate your heart rate, but stroll rather than power walk. ‘Notice a smell or sight and then let it fall away with each breath and footstep.’ Enjoy sights, sounds and scents: ‘Start acknowledging what emerges from your walks,’ says Clare Barry, founder of Urban Curiosity – a wellness and creativity company. Make the most of your surroundings by tuning in to all of your senses as you stroll. At the end of the year, if you’ve walked like this regularly, you’ll be able to track what a positive difference it’s made to your long-term happiness.ġ-hour mindfulness walking exercise: engage the senses – After your walk, note down something you felt particularly thankful for and put it in a jar.– Keep accepting, and feeling grateful for, everything you see and feel as you walk in a leisurely way.Marvel at the landscape or the buildings – even the most mundane office block has beauty if you look for it. Can you see anything you’ve overlooked before? Be like a tourist, even if you’ve walked the route hundreds of times. – Start to walk slowly and keep noticing things around you.Don’t be tempted to divide them into ‘good’ or ‘bad’ – accept that they’re passing through your mind instead of dwelling on or challenging them. Perhaps there are aches or niggles – turn your focus away from them and let them go. – Mentally scan your body and acknowledge what you feel and where. ![]() But a mindful walk helps you be happy in the here and now.’ ‘A lot of us are so busy – and distracted by electrical devices – that we rarely have enough time to recalibrate. ‘Taking a more mindful walk helps to reduce your cortisol levels and boost your mood,’ says therapist Emma Kenny. You can take this ball of positive energy into the rest of the day with you by closing your eyes and revisiting your walk.ģ0-minute mindfulness walking exercise: connect with natureĮven if you only have half an hour for lunch, it’s plenty of time to take a mental pause and connect fully to the great outdoors. – As you breathe out, visualise this energy expanding to a ball around your body.Focus on the happy, warm feelings that this brings. – Start to feel the energy being pulled into your stomach, specifically the space two inches below your navel.– As you walk, look around you and absorb the energy and promise of nature.– Start walking to the rhythm of your breathing – for example breathe in for three footsteps, then out for three You could breathe in for up to six or even 10 seconds – whatever you’re most comfortable with.It helps draw out positive feelings within you, putting a spring in your step and lightening your mood for the rest of the day. The Taoist ‘ball of energy’ meditation focuses on the flow of energy within your body known as chi. What’s more, this is all the time it takes to fit in a short walking meditation to further elevate these good feelings.
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