What are the spiritual benefits of walking?

Walking is a revered historical practice. When you study with most ancient spiritual traditions there is undoubtedly a walking meditation so one becomes aware of your connection with the holiness within your Self, with the Divine, and with the elements of the earth. You were created to move that magnificent body.

Native Americans, Christian monastics, Islamic Sufis, Buddhist monks, Hindu priests and Taoist monks make walking a part of their deeply grounded spiritual path.

Jesus walked from town to town healing the sick and teaching. Buddha spent his entire life walking from village to village teaching. Mahatma Gandhi walked 150 miles on the infamous Salt March that forever changed the future of India. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. walked the roads of Alabama and Georgia, and Susan B. Anthony spent her entire life, joined with a multitude of other women, walking for the right to the ballot box.

Experience your walk as a pilgrimage. Pilgrimages are a part of every spiritual tradition. Jews go to Jerusalem, Christians go to the Holy Land and Muslims go to Mecca. Just imagine something you want to learn or focus on before you leave on your pilgrimage each day, and when you return you have gone on your own journey and are following a deep rich tradition. On your walk notice the birds, the sky, the clouds, the trees, the sounds, the smells and the colors. Your walk is packed with a kaleidoscope of possibilities. Choose a different route for a different experience. Create a group of people to walk with in the morning or evening or walk alone for some introspection and alone time.

There are spiritual benefits to walking (at least once daily) if you consider that walking is a solitary activity that allows the opportunity for prayer, meditation and high thought. Personally, I like to rise early---before many others are up and awake---and go out walking alone. It is my time to be alone with me, a state of solitude. But it is also a time to reflect and process as well as to express appreciation for the natural beauty of all I survey (this is why it's best to walk outdoors, not on an indoor treadmill---you don't receive the full benefit).

When you walk outdoors, you are surrounded by birds, small animals, trees, and assorted forms of vegetation. You can breathe in the fresh air and fully expand your lungs with it which will well serve your physical well-being. You may also pass interesting or unusual architecture or works of art.

I often find I get answers to questions for things I've been wondering or for which I've been seeking resolve. I see walking as spiritual because of the shift it creates in my state of consciousness---the physical is essentially on "auto-pilot" (I don't have to do much thinking about the act of walking!), so the mind is free to give its attention over to aesthetics, high thought and conjecture. See if you don't find the same to be true for yourself. 

Walking especially in the outdoors and nature has been shown to dramatically improve mood and feelings of wellbeing. This can help bring about feeling of inner peace and calmness which are strongly correlated with spirituality.