Below is a guest article written by Holistic Practicioner Mitta Vicki Wise.  It describes a wonderful way to relax and gain deeper awareness with a walking meditation.

Walking Meditation

This exercise is best done on a natural, uneven surface. A park, forest or beach is perfect. Try to find a place and time when there is relative quiet or at least little traffic or construction noise. Before you begin your walk, stand still. Close your eyes. Take in the sounds around you. Be aware of your balance. Don’t try to stand in any particular way; just let your skeleton and your muscles hold you comfortably. Allow your arms to fall down by your side and let your head sink onto your chest.

Try to be aware of nothing external except the sounds that come to you. Attempt to identify each sound: is it high or low, shrill or mellow, pleasing or grating. Each sound repeats in a different rhythm. Despite the apparent randomness of natural sound there is, in fact, an underlying order to it. There is a pattern in the way birds repeat their calls and echo each other. There is an underlying cadence in the sound of a brook, a waterfall or the waves on a beach.

You are now ready to begin. Unlike an aerobic walk, this is a slow, ordinary series of steps based on awareness of your feet as they touch the ground. Notice the variation in the ground: subtle changes in the level you walk over, in the texture of the surface, in the way your feet roll over stones or roots. Awareness comes as you notice more and more differences in the same path. You can walk in a circle or in a line. You can go over the same stretch of ground many times or you can walk for about five minutes before turning back. Your eyes should be lowered to the ground, just a few steps ahead.

While walking, give attention to the contact of each foot as it touches the surface. When other things arise in your mind, simply notice what took your attention and gently return your focus to your walking. Towards the end of the meditation, ask yourself what differences you feel in your body and the way you walk from when you started and from when you last did this. Try this for 20 minutes daily or even every few days. It can result in a deep awareness.

To find out more about Mitta Vicki Wise, you can click the link below.

http://www.yourholistichealthcare.com

Next week on September 21st the world is encouraged to recognize that day as a day of peace. I think it is quite easy for people to look at places around the world where there is clearly hostility going on, whether it be the Middle East, Africa, or inner cities in the United States, and think why can’t there simply be peace.  To me peace is not about looking at places of hostility around the world and saying there must be peace there. Real peace around the world begins within you.

Check inside and honestly answer the questions “Am I at peace within myself?”  “How do I express and encourage peace in my interactions with others?”  Many people if they are honest are not at peace within themselves.  They have allowed what is going on their physical world to disturb their peace.  With their peace disturbed, they have either consciously or unconsciously disturbed the peace of those around them.

I believe we must master peace within ourselves before we can hope to have authentic peace with anyone else.  That is not to say that the two cannot be pursued simultaneously.  There are wonderful organizations such as The Center For Non-Violent Communication, that can assist you in both recognizing the needs both within yourself and others so that you can have peaceful win/win conversations even in difficult circumstances.

You can also make a conscious choice to release the thoughts, feelings, and beliefs that are responsible for disturbing your peace, and reprogram your subconscious mind to create peace in your life.  In honor of International Peace Day 2009, I have created ten affirmations for personal peace within you, and ten affirmations for peace around the world.

Affirmations For Personal Peace Within

1.  I am filled and surrounded with the positive energy of peace, calm, and well being.

2.  I am always expressing myself from my peaceful and unconditionally loving heart in all that I think, speak, and do.

3.  I am always expressing and encouraging peace in all my interactions with others.

4.  I give and receive the positive energy of peace and love gracefully and easily

5.  People naturally feel at peace around me.

6.  Peaceful energy is always radiating within and around me.

7.  I experience a tremendous sense of peace, calm, well being, and love with every breathe I take.

8.  My need for peace within myself is abundantly met.

9.  I am at peace within myself.

10.  I am always centered in the peaceful loving energy of my heart.

Affirmations For Peace Around The World

1.  The peaceful energy within me radiates out and around the world wherever it is needed.

2.  I recognize and encourage the peaceful nature of others.

3.  I see a peaceful resolution wherever conflict exists in the world.

4.  I recognize the world is filled with Divine Beings having a human experience, and their natural way of being is peace and love.

5.  Peace in the world is growing day by day.

6.  The positive energy of peace is expanding within and around the people of the world.

7.  The people of the world are at peace within themselves.

8.  People around the world are awakening and recognizing their peaceful loving nature.

9.  With every breathe of every person in the world the energy of peace is multiplied and expanded.

10.  The opportunity for peace is always present all around the world.

Everything in the world begins with a thought.  If you want peace in the world.  Let you thoughts be thoughts of peace.

Your comments and suggestions are always welcome.