Walking Meditation with Divine Mother

To practice interiorization of the mind during normal waking consciousness, try this walking meditation. Walk alone, if possible, during this exercise, for its purpose is to interiorize the mind, not to externalize it in the company of others.

At the same time, I am aware that walking meditations are often practiced in a group. Such practice has the advantage of formalizing one’s practices; it can make you regular in them. So take it, if you like, as my personal preference. To me, this practice is too intimate for anything but solitary practice.

Throughout this practice, make it a point to relate to God, to God through Nature, and to your own higher Self.

1. Don’t walk vigorously. In other words, don’t hike. Walk easefully. Express in outward action the peace you feel in meditation.
2. Now, be aware of the energy as it moves through your body. Feel yourself surrounded by a great, inverted vortex of cosmic energy, spinning slowly around you, and drawing you upward toward its source in infinity.
3. Bring that energy down, after a time, into an awareness of its manifestation in your physical environment.
4. Listen to the birds singing: Hear the Divine Consciousness singing through them. Ask the Divine Mother if She hasn’t some special message, in their singing, for you.
5. Listen to the sounds in your vicinity: to dogs barking, people’s voices in the distance, cars moving. Feel the Divine Mother communicating with you through all those sounds.
6. Gaze at the sunlight as it trembles on a leaf; at the clouds sailing overhead; at the trees, the bushes; at countless objects around you. Share those visual impressions with the Divine Mother, as if also with your higher Self.
7. Feel the wind on your skin, the warmth of the sunlight or the coolness of the evening air. In every thought, in every impression, make the Divine Mother a participant.
8. If thoughts come to you in the form of words, share them with the Divine Mother as though you were talking to Her. Don’t only think about Her, in the third person. Talk to Her.
9. Feel yourself as the breath of divine love and joy. Walk joyfully on an earth where all beings rejoice in their unseen, heavenly origin.

Start a New Meditation Practice or Inspire Your Current One

The 10-week Ananda Course in Meditation online course is designed to provide in-depth instruction in scientific meditation techniques that bring more peace, deeper relaxation, and focused concentration to every area of your life, regardless of outer conditions.

These techniques are based on the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda, author of Autobiography of a Yogi.

Learn more