Activity

Mindful Walking Technique

When outside with your child, engage all the senses.

• Start by noticing the feeling of your feet inside your sock (shoe, or on the bare ground). Wiggle your toes.
• Then take one step, slowly, noticing how the movement feels throughout the body.
• Take a few more slow steps, noticing how it feels.  
• You can also pay attention to your surroundings,
• ​What do you hear? (animals, cars, footsteps)
  
• Smell? (trees, grass, near by restaurant?)
• Feel? (breeze in your hair, sweat on arm, shirt on your back)
• See?  (details in the clouds, nature, buildings around you)
• Take a beginner's mindset – pretend that you are seeing your environment for the very first time. What stands out to you and your child?
• Have a conversation with your child about what you are experiencing.

Mindful walking is a practice that engages us in physical exercise, but it also allows us to slow down, be in the present moment, and experience a bit of peace in an often-chaotic world.​