Mindful Walking

How to do a mindful walk

Pick a short, safe route, set the timer and pocket the phone, then give your attention to one part of the walk at a time. When you notice you are lost in thought, bring it back to your steps. (Wondering whether it beats an ordinary walk? No trial has compared them; the studies are below.)

1. Choose the route before you leave. A loop around the block, a park path or a hallway. If you know where to turn, you do not have to think about it.
2. Phone in your pocket, sound off. Set the timer above to 5 or 10 minutes and check "vibrate" if your phone supports it. Look at the screen only when you stop at a crosswalk. Walk without music, podcasts or notifications ^[1].
3. Stand still for one breath. Feel your weight through both feet before the first step.
4. Walk at your usual pace or a little slower. Let your arms swing or rest your hands in front of you, whatever feels natural.
5. Follow the cue. Feet first, then sounds, then breath. The timer changes the cue every 100 seconds, so you only need to know which one you are on.
6. Come back when you drift. You will start planning or replaying a conversation. When you notice, say "thinking" to yourself and return to the current cue.
7. End with a pause. Stop, take one breath, and notice how your body feels compared with the start.

Feet, sounds, breath: what to notice

Stay with one anchor until the timer moves you on. Switching on your own every few seconds turns the walk into a checklist.

Feet

Notice the push from the toes as well as the heel landing. On grass and on concrete the same step feels different; so does going uphill. If your feet are hard to feel through thick shoes, notice your knees and hips instead.

Sounds

When you catch yourself commenting on a sound ("that dog again"), go back to just hearing it. Sounds work well on a busy street, where looking inward at your feet is not safe.

Breath

Notice how breathing changes as you move. In the Plum Village tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh, walkers match steps to breath: two or three steps as you breathe in, three or four as you breathe out, depending on your lungs and your natural rhythm ^[2]. You can try it, or just count your steps without changing your breath.

Mindful walking vs walking meditation

People use the two names loosely, and some sources treat them as the same thing ^[3]. On this page, mindful walking means the ordinary-pace version and walking meditation the slow, formal one on a short path.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) courses teach the slow, formal version ^[3]. If you want to try it, use a hallway or a quiet corner of a yard. The timer works for both.

Mindful walking indoors, in a wheelchair or on a busy street

Indoors, walk the length of a hallway or a room, turn slowly, and walk back. Turning is a good moment to check where your attention has gone. This works in bad weather or when you cannot leave the house.

If you use a wheelchair or walk with a cane or walker, the same cues work: notice your hands on the wheels or the handle, the sounds around you, and your breath. The slow formal version can be done this way too ^[3].

On a city street, keep your eyes up and your attention wide, and save the inward focus on your feet for the quieter stretches. Waiting at a crosswalk gives you a pause for free: one breath, one sound, then walk on.

Is mindful walking safe? Traffic, earbuds and health

Mindful walking adds one risk to an ordinary walk: your attention is partly on your body instead of your surroundings. These rules from NHTSA, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the CDC matter more for that reason:

• Use the sidewalk. If there is none, walk facing traffic and as far from it as you can. Cross at crosswalks or intersections, and watch for cars backing out of driveways ^[4].
• Keep your ears free. Earbuds also cut you off from the sounds this practice uses. If you must wear them, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons advises keeping the volume low enough to hear traffic and your surroundings ^[5].
• Look up when stepping off curbs and at uneven ground. Inward focus is for smooth, familiar stretches.
• Check with your doctor first if you have a chronic condition such as heart disease, arthritis or diabetes: the CDC advises talking about the types and amounts of physical activity that are right for you ^[6]. The same goes if you have been told to limit activity.
• If you feel dizzy or short of breath, stop and rest. If you have chest pain, stop and get medical help right away; call 911 if it is severe or does not go away.

Mindful walking benefits: what studies found

The evidence is thin and mixed. In small trials, mindful walking programs lowered perceived stress compared with no program, and a week of daily mindful walks came with better sleep and mood. None of the trials compared it with ordinary walking, and the effects were not shown to last.

The main trial, from Germany in 2013, randomized 74 adults with moderate to high stress to 8 sessions over 4 weeks or to a wait-list control group. Each session was 40 minutes of walking, 10 minutes of mindful walking and 10 minutes of discussion. On Cohen's Perceived Stress Scale, the walking group's score dropped by about 9 points against 1 point in the wait-list group ^[7]. The authors themselves noted that a comparison with another active program, and a longer follow-up, were still missing.

A 2019 US pilot with 38 adults who were not active enough compared 4 weekly mindful walking sessions with advice to be more active. Stress fell more in the mindful walking group right after the program, but the difference was no longer significant a month later, and physical activity rose in both groups ^[8].

In a 2023 trial, 104 UK students with sleep problems did a 35-minute mindful walk every day for a week, either in nature or in town. Both groups improved in sleep quality, mood and mindfulness, and the nature group did no better ^[9]. Everyone walked, so the trial cannot show that the walking caused the change.

In a 2018 trial with 110 young adults, 10 minutes of brisk walking did not lower anxiety, while 10 minutes of seated meditation did, alone or combined with the walk ^[10]. That study did not test mindful walking itself.

So mindful walking is worth trying if sitting still is hard for you, on a walk you already take. It has not been shown to treat anxiety, depression or poor sleep.

If your mind won't settle on a walk

Count steps from 1 to 10, then start again at 1. When you lose count, which you will, that is your cue to come back. If counting does not help and brisk walking is fine for you, walk a little faster for a minute and notice your heartbeat and breath, then slow down again. Neither trick has been studied; they are what we would try.

Some days a walk is not possible. On those days a short seated session from meditation for beginners trains the same skill of noticing and coming back.

Frequently asked questions