Photo by Tim Goedhart on Unsplash

I chose to do a mindfulness practice this week that involved movement because I feel that I sit too long throughout the day. So, I came across MINDFUL WALKING! This caught my attention because I love walking outdoors and thought I would take full advantage of the fact that it had not snowed yet. It was exactly what I was looking for!  

I came across an awesome website that gave me a step by step on how to accomplish a mindfulness walk and the many benefits you can gain from doing it. There are six different steps they recommend you follow in order to do this walk properly; I will show them below: 

https://www.changetochill.org/stay-grounded-with-mindful-walking/#:~:text=Just%20as%20mindfulness%20is%20the,t%20necessarily%20about%20being%20still. 

My experience with mindful walking: 

To be honest the first two times I tried this it was extremely difficult for me since I always get distracted on my walks and love that I usually do not have to think of anything when I am walking. But, on my third walk I really convinced myself that I wanted to follow the six steps and see if I would see any changes in myself, and I did. Even though it was hard to focus on my movements first and then my surroundings there was a sense of peace and calmness that came over me, I felt I was fully engaged in the present moment. It was beautiful! 

* I do not think I will do this all the time due to my preference of being “free” in my walks, but this will not be the last time I do it either, due to me actually seeing the benefits of mindfulness walks.

Will I be doing this in my future class as a mindfulness practice? 

I think that I will give it a try, because it could be the best thing ever for my future students or the worst thing but at least I tried it. I feel that students would benefit from this practice, but I believe when you go on walks this is the time for students to talk to each other and a time when they are not bothered. In saying this, I could see this practice being turned into an art / literacy lesson plan though, the students could draw pictures of what they saw and write sentences about how they felt! I will be trying this in a lesson plan for sure!

More about changetochill.org: 

  • They provide lesson plans / activities / resources which are free to all. 
  • They cover a lot of different topics other than mindfulness, some being how to reduce stressors, finding life balance and how to reduce stigmas.  

Highly recommend checking it out! 🙂

A little reminder to take with you throughout your day, take time for yourself!