Spiritual community focused on mindful-walking.
At the nicest parks in inner-Melbourne.
Fits Around Work and School.
Pay as Your Feel.
Part 1: Games to “Break the Ice”
Catch, share and throw
Stand in a circle.
Throw a ball from person to person and when they catch it they have to share one thing about themselves.
Then they throw it to the next person.
Free-association
People stand in a circle and go around the circle saying the first word that comes to mind.
Responses should be quick and without thinking or hesitation.
This game should be light, fun and maybe make you a little nervous.
Word-association chain
Stand in a cirle.
Each person takes turn saying a word and the next person along must say a related word.
Then the next person says a word related to that and so forth.
One word-story
Stand in a circle.
Participants take turns adding one word to try and collaboratively create a story that makes sense.
Cut to the chase
Stand in a circle.
Each person takes turn answering a question.
When everyone has answered the question move to the next person.
- What brought you here today?
- How would your friends describe you?
- What is the secret to becoming your friend?
- What is something you could talk about all day?
- What do you wish more people undestood about you?
Speed-friending
Pair up with someone and introduce yourselves.
Ask a few basic questions and share a little about yourself too.
Every 2-minutes switch to someone new
Part 2: Grounding Exercises
Moving body-scan
Follow along with gentle movements starting with the head/neck and moving down the body to the feet.
Let the movements of different body parts help awaken your mind-body connection.
Circle of gratitude
Share something that you are grateful for...
- Giving
- Receiving
- Creating
- Having
- Feeling
- Doing
- Loving
- Being
5, 4, 3, 2, 1 sensory exercise
Awaken your senses by noticing...
- 5 things you can see
- 4 things you can touch
- 3 things you can hear
- 2 things you can smell
- 1 thing you can taste
Box-breathing
Everyone stands in a circle and breathes together (box-breathing).
- Inhaling for a count of four
- Holding for a count of four
- Exhaling for a count of four
- Waiting for a count of four
Shaking it out
For a few minutes let your body release all of it's nervous tension through deep breathing (with a long sigh) and "shaking it out".
Part 3: Mindful Walking
Contemplate why
There’s lots of good reasons to meditate.
But I can’t put my reasons for meditating in your head.
Think about why you are interested in meditating at all – which reasons are meaningful to you?
Every person is different and their experience will be different so you need to start where you are not where you think you should be.
Take it a step further… why is it that you are interested in paying attention to your breath or your steps for 20-minutes (for example)?
It makes it easier to awaken and achieve a flow-state if you genuinely do want to meditate and pay attention to something.
Upright, open posture
When I am meditating I often get lost in my thoughts and I can’t find my way out. It is not a pleasant experience.
What I have noticed is that when I am trapped in my mind like this I always have hunched over, closed posture.
Correcting your posture is one way to improve the way you feel from the outside-in.
It helps make your practice more pleasant and you feel like you are doing it right so you feel good about yourself.
Arriving in this moment
Walking quickly is something that people do when they are trying to get somewhere. By the same token trying to get a lot done in a short amount of time is how we achieve things.
In meditation we are not trying to get anywhere or achieve anything. We are making the place to arrive at right where we are. The achievement is to let go of trying to achieve things.
Slowing down is what do when they are somewhere they really want to be – like on a beach during a holiday.
You are pretty lucky to be able to go for a walk in the forest on a leisurely day in Melbourne.
So enjoy it…. take your time… don’t rush… slow down and smell the roses.
Somatic experiencing
A lot of people have life-changing experiences at 10-day silent retreats . For example they might cry uncontrollably for long periods of time and then afterwards feel a deep sense of lightness and relief… perhaps a truly lasting tranformation.
I believe that this is because in vipassana they focus on body-scanning – the body is the where these exiled feelings like childhood trauma live.
How does it feel for you to pay attention to your body? That feeling is the context of your whole life.Are you going to distract yourself from it or learn to be at home with it?
What situations trigger you? Use the opportunity to work with these difficult feelings.
It’s an uncomfortable thing to do but if you can incorporate somatic experiencing into your practice you can start to liberate yourself in the same way people do in various somatic therapies.
Choose an "anchor"
An anchor is something that you resolve to concentrate on.
Most commonly in sitting meditation it is the breath or maybe a body-scan.
In walking meditation it is usually the rhythmic motion of walking itself.
If you are in nature it’s nice to make sensing and perceving the natural eco-system around your anchor – the visual scene, auditory field, scents in the air etc.
Pick an anchor and do your best to focus on it but don’t demand perfection of yourself. If your mind wanders just be ok with it, reawaken and return to your anchor.
Be a friend to yourself
I always heard that you need to be gentle and kind to yourself when you are meditating. But I never understood why so I didn’t really try to take it onboard.
As my practice deepened I start to see hints of why that is recommended practice. That made me start to practicing the advice and be like a forgiving friend to myself.
For me what that means is that I consider it acceptable to have a wandering mind for example.
This is different to everyday life where we are conditioned to expect so much of ourselves. At work and in relationships, we and other people hold us to such high standards. I believe that society conditions us to be hard on ourselves.
In this regard meditation is like mental hygiene. It’s wiping away the cobwebs of self-judgement and critisicism in our minds.
Now I see clearly that judging myself for an imperfect practice puts me more in my mind and in time.
That’s why when my mind wanders the best way to reawaken is to just be ok with my imperfect practice. And then just like that you are awake again.
Mind-like-sky
The best moments in meditation are when you mind quietens and becomes still. You feel a deep sense of serenity, peace and what Eckhart Tolle calls “the joy of being”.
There are techniques you can incorporate into your practice to “defuse” your mind from your conscious awareness like this.
Traditionally it’s called mind-like-sky and in modern psychology it’s called cognitive defusion (part of acceptance and commitment therapy).
2 techniques you can try incorporating into your practice are:
- See all the activity of your mind as being like clouds moving through the sky
- Visualise placing your thoughts onto leaves floating down a stream
Loving-kindness
I think when people are highly awakened they tend to feel kind and compassionate towards other beings.
Even if we are not enlightened, having these kind and compassionate thoughts tends to awaken us. We start to escape the conditioning that life is a big competition and to love our neighbour(s).
The loving-kindness prayer that works for me is…
- May I be happy
- May I be healthy
- May I be safe
- May I live with ease
What you are doing is trying to develop sincere positive regard for yourself. Once you have done that you progress through the following using the same 4 lines…
- A loved one
- Someone you feel neutral about
- Someone you have difficult feelings with
- All living beings
Part 4: Group Discussion
How did the group dynamic effect your practice?
Encourages participants to reflect on how the interactions within the group influenced their experience of the walk and the mindfulness practice. The group dynamic refers to the energy, mood, and interactions between members, which can either support or challenge individual experiences. This question invites individuals to consider whether the group’s presence helped them stay present, feel supported, or perhaps even distracted them. It helps participants assess how their connection with others influenced their own focus, mindfulness, and sense of belonging during the walk.
Did you notice any details about the environment?
The question “Did you notice any details about the environment?” encourages participants to become more mindful of their surroundings by paying attention to the small, often overlooked aspects of nature or the space they walked through. It invites sensory engagement, prompting individuals to reflect on what they saw, heard, or felt, helping them stay present. This question also creates an opportunity for non-judgmental reflection, allowing participants to appreciate the environment in a relaxed, open way without pressure to evaluate or compare.
In this moment, can you feel into your body?
Invites participants to tune in to their physical sensations and become more aware of how their body feels in the present moment. It encourages mindfulness and helps individuals check in with their physical state, whether they feel relaxed, tense, or anything in between. This question fosters a connection between the mind and body, allowing participants to ground themselves and stay present in their experience. It also helps raise awareness of how the walk or the environment has affected their body, promoting a deeper sense of embodiment.
How did you feel before/during/after?
Encourages participants to reflect on the emotional journey they experienced throughout the walk. It invites them to track their feelings at different stages: before the walk (e.g., anxious, excited, or neutral), during the walk (e.g., calm, distracted, or engaged), and after the walk (e.g., relieved, content, or reflective). This question helps participants gain insight into how the walk impacted their emotional state and can highlight any shifts or changes in their mood or mindset. It also fosters self-awareness and encourages participants to notice how their emotional responses evolve over time.
Did you notice anything about your monkey mind?
Invites participants to reflect on the activity of their thoughts during the walk. The “monkey mind” refers to a restless, scattered, or constantly jumping mind, which is often full of distractions, worries, or unrelated thoughts. This question encourages individuals to observe their mental state and become aware of how their mind was behaving—whether it was calm and focused, or if it was bouncing around with various thoughts. It promotes mindfulness by helping participants notice their thoughts without judgment, offering insight into how they interact with their mental processes during the walk.
Did you incorporate any loving-kindness? if so, how did it feel?
Invites participants to reflect on their ability to practice compassion, both towards themselves and others, during the walk. It encourages mindfulness around the intention of loving-kindness, whether in thoughts, words, or actions. This reflection can help deepen their sense of connection, increase empathy, and highlight the emotional impact of such practices. It also encourages self-awareness and personal growth, as participants can consider how their practice affected their mood, mindset, and relationships within the group.
Is there anything you feel grateful about from the experience?
Encourages participants to reflect on positive aspects of the walk and their time in the group. It helps shift the focus toward appreciation and mindfulness, highlighting any small moments, personal growth, or connection that may have occurred. By fostering gratitude, this question can promote a sense of contentment, enhance well-being, and encourage participants to recognise the value in their experience, even in the simplest details, like the natural environment, the walk itself, or the support they received from others.