Becoming a “Walking Meditation” By: Dr. Sue Morter
It is important to realize that meditation is not a practice that one uses to escape in order to hide from a disruptive life, nor is it a practice for relaxation alone. It is so much more and provides the opportunity to experience ourselves from an entirely different perspective. We are afforded a way of ‘being with’ the circumstances in our lives and ‘being with’ ourselves in a way that removes the stresses of seeing life from a dualistic viewpoint. Good or bad, should be or shouldn’t be, right and wrong begin to disappear. Peace surfaces.
When we meditate, we practice being in an observer’s role by simply noticing all of the reactions we are having and all of the energies that are activated from the events that occur, without reacting, without making it personal. We simply observe. We begin to see that we can allow life’s circumstances to flow without having to control them. When this happens, we begin to move into a rhythm with life that promotes wholeness and healing along with abundance and great Joy. Stress is reduced, as a simple by- product of our attention being focused differently. By looking at what is and not attempting to change it, and by allowing whatever energy rises to our conscious attention to simply rise, without attempting to change, redirect, or deny it, things dissolve. Without effort.
Once mastered, this practice leads to an even deeper experience of ourselves that transcends all of the physical experience of life. We have opportunity to view life happenings from a perspective that sees beyond the duality and embraces a third viewpoint; one of acceptance and collaboration.
Once practiced, meditation can be utilized as more of an integrated experience. I often refer to this in meditation workshops as a ‘walking meditation’. What this means is that we can cultivate this experience and integrate it into our daily ‘walking’ life. Rather than having a hectic day and then rushing home to meditate it away, I invite people into a more integrated perspective.
By seeing life from this different viewpoint, one that allows all things to serve our growth and unfoldment, rather than good or bad, right or wrong, we become free from getting caught up in the ‘hectic’ interpretation. We ‘walk’ our peaceful state into every situation, even when it seems to be opposed, and we are able to do so because we have familiarized ourselves with the feeling we have cultivated through a regular meditation practice. Five minutes a day can change your life.
In just five minutes per day we can focus on and establish a balancing of energies in the mind and heart in a way that reflects a more natural state of being, one of peacefulness. By focusing on the heart chakra area in the center of the chest and breathing slowly, deeply into the abdomen and with conscious awareness of the idea of a higher source of energies that are available to us through simply allowing them to be experienced, we can establish a new foundation of ‘being’ to spring from each day. With this practice alone, one can change their experience in life due to the shifted reference point that the individual has established and developed as part of one’s awareness. Things become less abrasive in life and more fluid. There becomes an easier way of moving through the day and a greater sense of certainty. The more days in a row this is practiced, the greater the stability in future potential ‘upsets’.
To focus even more deeply into the lower abdomen with the breath and to open and relax the body while doing so, allows the process to deepen as well. By relaxing the muscles in the hip joint and breathing deeply into that same area as though the muscles themselves were doing the breathing, extends the effect even more. Do this first while sitting in a quiet and still place until the feeling is established. Focus on the breath, watch it go in and out of the body and though you were an observer in the circumstance rather than caught up in the middle of ‘doing’ it. You might even count to eight or ten while breathing in and then count again on the out-breath, just to occupy the mind while the process is getting acclimated in your system. Then, once established, the mind is more likely to cooperate without racing on the various topics of your life.
It is essential that we gain a mastery over this racing mind, as that is the largest component of a stress response in our daily lives. To begin to see the reality that all things move through our lives and move on to resolution, in sorts no matter how much fretting and gnashing about we do with them, is a most valuable realization to gain. Such a practice can be discovered through meditation.
Then, to take this new perspective into the ‘walking world’, we begin to put into practice the very benefit we are seeking from meditation in the first place. To recall the feeling of steadiness and of being so deeply grounded that is established in meditation; and having taken the time to acquaint ourselves with a deeper more meaningful version of ourselves allows for a entirely different experience of relationships, our work in the world and of ourselves at large.
While walking through your day, notice the way that you are breathing. Notice the way that your muscles are relaxing in ways that they did not before. Allow your awareness to move to that observer positioning that you have established in your regular meditation practice. When something occurs that is not what you would have preferred, or could potentially upset you, immediately take a deep breath in and slowly exhale, open the abdomen and allow the breath to flow deeply into it. Simply feel the areas of your body relax as you remember to include them in your awareness.
This will put you into the state that allows balanced decisions to be made. It will allow you to resonate with the most creative energies that are available to you from all of nature. It will keep you from reacting and will instead inspire you to create the relationships you desire through improved communication that is not coming from a place of anxiety or fear, but rather a more masterful space within.
Meditation has become an increasingly significant part of the treatment recommendations that I use with patients in my practice. I have seen tremendous response to their care, as they have begun to integrate meditation into their lives. This is true in regard not only to their ability to heal, but also in their increased ability to find a still, peaceful space from which to live. They begin to master their lives.
In my private practice, I use methods that balance the body’s electromagnetic energy field to re-establish a more congruent and harmonious relationship between the physical body and its environment. When the physical body is in disharmony with its environment, disease and other contractive processes can begin. Meditation helps to sustain the balancing of nerve and energy flow that the techniques that I use in my office re-establish in the body.
A committed practice does not mean that one has to sit in meditation for hours and hours to develop the awareness necessary to change one’s life. Although the more someone tends to focus on it, the sooner they begin to experience a new sense of freedom. Truly five minutes a day will be a beginning, if someone has never really taken the time to become present with themselves.
To keep the energy flowing, you must stay in harmony with what “is,” because it is when we resist the real and present circumstances of our lives that we begin to get out of balance.
When we discuss the importance of being in harmony with what is, it is essential that we understand we can co-create and navigate our lives. We do not have to sit back, surrender in defeat and accept that an uncomfortable situation is never going to be different. What “is” is happening in our lives for a reason. We have to learn how to work with, accept and begin to blend with the circumstances in order that they may awaken something within. Whatever is happening in our lives is happening for a reason. If you find yourself resisting and saying, “Why me?” you will find you are not in harmony to what “is”. And, remember, to remain in balance we must stay in the harmony to what “is”.
Through meditation, you can align your conscious thoughts with what you feel to be true and establish a relationship with your ability to feel. Our true ability to discern what is in harmony does not happen in our heads. It actually occurs in the lower energy centers known as the root chakra, solar plexus and the sacral center where you feel what is true. In our culture, we more commonly refer to this as a “gut feeling.” We must reconnect in this area and begin to trust it again. Getting in touch and listening to your “gut feelings” ,combined with your heart’s desire, puts you in touch with the alignment of your own individual truth.
At first, it is not unusual for people to say, “I don’t get it . . . I don’t feel anything.” Our conscious mind is in the habit of becoming distracted. There are a thousand things it will do to pull us off of that commitment and to do something else instead. It’s amazing, but so much healing happens when people follow through and stick with their choice.
I have found that people are often hesitant to begin, believing that meditation is some type of exotic technique only for other people who have reached a certain level of enlightenment. But in reality, it is through this process that you may discover your greatest teacher is found within you. I invite you be like an innocent child when you are meditating; curious and simply present with the adventure. It should not be hard work. It is essential to be gentle with yourself as you begin to change these patterns of the mind. All things can change when the mind’s perspective is shifted. Meditation allows us to shift our perspective through the recognition that we can be ‘present’ with things without having to ‘change’ them.
My recommendation to someone asking what meditation has to offer is to simply begin, and discover the answer for themselves. By beginning, it allows them the familiarity once again of being in a space of love and compassion without having to wait until it is a no-choice circumstance for them. You can choose to be in that space of love and compassion; all you need is the desire to seek a deeper realization and understanding of your true self. As we accept and joyously celebrate who we are in our uniqueness, then we become a walking meditation.
About the Author
Dr. Sue Morter is an international speaker, trainer, Bio-Energetic Synchronization Technique (B.E.S.T.) Master Instructor, CEO of a multi-doctor wellness center called Morter Health Center, and co-founder of Morter HealthSystem, a company devoted to improving the health of mankind worldwide. People around the world have attended her dynamic, energetic, and life-changing seminars, learning the secrets of Mind/Body Wellness and Intentional Living and the beauy of meditation.
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