Took a full day off from work on a weekday. Went to So Ku Wan of Lama Island for a nice beach walk and seafood.
Simply loving the feeling of ‘mindful walking’ on the lush lush succulent ‘algae lawn’ on the So Ku Wan Beach….
Mindfulness means “paying attention in a particular way; on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally”1. Research shows that mindfulness-based interventions can lead to beneficial physical and psychological outcomes such as reduced anxiety and depression2.
One simple way of bringing mindfulness into your daily life is to practice mindful walking. This refers to intentionally attending to the actual experience of walking as you are walking, involving the sensations in the feet, legs or the whole body while moving - as you lift up one foot (with the other foot standing firm and stabilizes as weight of body shifts to this side), move forward and then place it onto the ground, and the gait cycles continue. You may also like to integrate awareness of your breathing with mindful walking3.
The mind may wander away from the walking experience, and you can simply acknowledge this, let the thoughts or images in the wandering mind come and go, and gently bring your attention back to where you are in the walking. Or, you may like to simply stop and feel the body stand and breathing, gathering yourself, and then begin walking again as the ‘walking impulse’ begins.
Dr. Michelle
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