Hate flying? I sure do, but with a solid walking meditation, all aspects of the flights I take go much smoother.
Same thing with going to the dentist or making your way to the surgical table. Having a go-to walking meditation method takes the edge off.
Oh, and walking meditation helps create everyday stability too.
And since most of us walk at least a little every day, why not use that time to experience memory improvement?
The question is…
What is walking meditation?
It’s a means of practicing mindfulness and presence.
And how mindfulness and presence help your memory is about to be revealed…
3 Reasons You Should You Develop A Walking Meditation Practice
1. Meditation reduces stress and causes your brain to release healing chemicals.
2. Meditation has also been shown to improve concentration and memory, likely because of how the practice makes you more attentive throughout each day.
And since you can’t remember what you haven’t registered, anything that increases your present-moment awareness is worth every second you spend developing it.
3. Meditation is a form of rest. In my own experience, a solid meditation of just 9-15 minutes can feel just as restful as a good night’s sleep.
Yes, meditation is that powerful.
Why Walking Meditation Is Bliss On Wheels
And the fact that you can meditate on the way to the grocery store makes everything about the practice even better.
Instead of frittering away the time on useless thoughts and worries, you can focus on your physical being in the present moment. You’ll enjoy life more and experience increased health.
Both of which can lead to more time in which to enjoy your improved awareness.
To help you out, here are three relatively unheard of ways to kickstart one of the best habits you’ll ever develop.
1. Breath Counting Meditation
One of the easiest ways to start a walking meditation practice involves nothing more than tracking and counting your breathing.
Every time you breathe in, give the breath a number. Likewise, give each exhale a number.
I like to count each number twice, i.e.:
In 1 Out 1 …
In 2 Out 2 …
In 3 Out 3 …
You can count to as high a number as you wish.
Take note of anything that distracts you or causes you to lose count.
Then gently bring yourself back and start over at ‘1’ anytime you wish.
Leave Judgment At The Door
No matter what happens along the journey, it’s important not to judge yourself or cast evil spells against your memoryif you lose count while practicing.
Simply allow yourself to practice.
If you choose to see it as a challenge, always do so in good spirits. If you set meditation of any kind up as a game, you will find it frustrating because if it’s a game, random thoughts will always win.
But meditation is not a game. If it were, the only way to lose is by not practicing it at all.
2. Syncing Counting With Steps And Breathing
Another way to count your breath as you practice walking meditation is to sync each breath with a step. You can create a number of patterns starting with a one-to-one correspondence.
To begin, inhale and step and then exhale and step.
Next, take two steps per breath. As you inhale, take two steps and then exhale as you take two steps.
Increase the number of steps you take per breath up until 10 steps per breath or until it feels uncomfortable.
The goal is to maintain focus on the practice, not pass out, so take care that you increase your steps slowly.
Follow your instincts and enjoy the process. Pay attention to everything happening to you, including heart rate changes and thoughts that arise.
3. Sensory Style Walking Meditation
You can practice the next approach on its own or in combination with breathing. The goal is to focus intensely on your physical body and its connection to the surrounding world.
Beginning with your feet, notice each area and how it contacts the ground.
Notice how your feet handle your weight and explore placing different levels of emphasis on various parts of your feet as you move. (You can also practice meditatively studying the way your feet contact the world while standing.)
From your feet, scan your entire body. Notice the sensations of your clothing on your skin.
Then, narrow your attention on the feel and temperature of the air.
Instead of hearing environmental sounds, practice experiencing them as physical sensations in your ears. (You can practice sound as a physical sensation with music too.)
The more immersed in physical sensation you become, the less random thoughts control your mind. You’ll find the world unbelievably peaceful when you take it as a physical reality without thinking about it or making judgments.
Take It To The Next Level With Impromptu Memory Palaces
Once you’ve had some experience with walking meditation, try using the same immersive and breathing principles while reading, eating and even conversing with other people. You’ll be more involved with your life in the present moment.
It’s a super-simple technique and one you can use any time you wish in just about any location.
The Ultimate Walking Meditation Benefit
In a word?
Presence.
Presence is the most precious thing in the world.
Why?
Because it helps you encode more information into memory.
But please note that meditation works best with regular practice. Many experts agree that a minimum of 4 sessions per week are required to experience substantial benefits.
I would suggest going in with an abundance mentality and meditating daily. The trick is to take it small at the beginning and enjoy the ride. Meditation is best learned by doing and walking meditation requires doing above all.
Like when you’re walking to your next flight and feeling anxious…
Or taking a trip down to surgery…
Don’t overthink the process. Don’t give in to analysis paralysis.
Instead, take action.
I’ve shared these three practices as a guide for exploration so you don’t have to do anything but implement the techniques.
And after you’ve taken action, then let analysis have a cameo.
Analyze what happens after you perform a walking meditation.
That way, you can improve your practice over time.
And do feel free to report your results. I’d love to hear what happens!
This technique draws upon the spatial memory and spatial imagination of your brain.
Don’t know how to make a Memory Palace?
No problem. Just claim this free, complimentary Memory Palace training kit:
Once you have a Memory Palace with 12 Magnetic Stations, it’s time to start associating each month with a simple Magnetic Image.
Annoying Janet Smashes The Jam Jar
Ever see Rocky Horror Picture Show?
If so, then it’s going to be easy to associate the abstract idea of January as a period of time with Janet from that movie.
This Janet could serve as a one off image before you move to February, or she could be the Bridging Figure you follow throughout your Memory Palace for the Zodiac and other horoscope related information.
Don’t know Rocky Horror Picture show?
No problem! Any Other Janet Or G.I. Jane Will Do!
Perhaps even a close match like Jane Fonda. Or Janie from that Aerosmith song…
The important point is to associate the Janet you pick with an object and an action.
Smashing a jar of jam on the ground works well. Especially if you can make the jam specific.
(Note: Some people in the memory training world call such a chain of associations PAO, and this is a rare case where I would use a small PAO set for a limited purpose. Here’s why I normally do not use a PAO system, however.)
Like the raspberry jam your babysitter used to make.
Or the BOB jam in Sweden you remember from camping near Östhammar back in 2013.
(Oh no, wait. That was me. Enjoyed BOB a lot that first while in Sweden. But the point remains the same: Specificity matters to your United Nations of Understanding.)
The Gangster Unicorn Pops A Cap
Let’s review:
At this point, you’ve got a Memory Palace.
You’ve got someone named Janet in mind.
She’s smashing some particular jam that means something to you on the ground.
Now you need to imagine something in your mind that you can associate with the weird-sounding word, “Capricorn.”
Like how about a gangster unicorn?
You know the kind, right?
They all wear a dark gangster hats, have a gold-capped teeth and swear they’re gonna pop a cap in yo’ you know what.
Oh, and that ain’t just any kind of gun he’s toting.
It’s a gun that shoots corn. These are the unicorn’s bullet caps.
At the first Magnetic Station, associate Jane smashing a jam jar on the ground with the gangster unicorn furious enough in response to start shooting his corn gun.
Rinse And Repeat A Bundle Of Associations
Once you’ve completed this step, move on to the next Magnetic Station in your Memory Palace.
Give each month a Magnetic Image and associate it with the star sign.
Use the Memory Palace to help you practice recalling each association you create until each is in long term memory. The Rule of Five should get you there.
Hold On There, Star Cowboy! What About The Specific Date Crossovers?
Oh, right.
In this strange and silly system, Capricorn becomes Aquarius on January 20th.
No problem. I just see a giant nose sneeze so loudly it blows both Janet and the gangster unicorn out into space.
Why a giant nose?
Because I use the Major Method for numbers. That also happens to be my image for the 10 of Spades.
If you don’t have a way to memorize a deck of cards, here are 13 reasons you should have a system for remembering cards.
Since all transitions across the Zodiac star signs occur between the 19th and 23rd, each transition point is covered by a playing card if you use the Magnetic Memory Method approach to card memory.
Super-cool, or what?
The D.O.C. C.U.R.E. For Memorizing The Zodiac
Even though I’ve given only one example here, you can easily come up with your own for the rest of the year. And if you want, this precise same process will let you memorize the months of the year in any language.
With a bit of imagination, you can come up with dozens of applications for the simple memory technique you’ve just learned.
It all makes for great brain exercise, and you can give compelling cold readings if you’re a mentalist or magician. (Just be honest about the fact that your psychic powers are not real. Ian Rowland’s Full Facts Book of Cold Reading is highly recommended.)
If you need more help with creating mnemonic examples, join the Masterclass. You’ll be invited to an upcoming Implementation Bootcamp where we can practice creating the images you need together.
The point?
D.O.C.
Doing is the Origin of Confidence
Doing is the Origin of Creativity
Doing is the origin of Consistency
And together that amounts to the C.U.R.E. for forgetfulness.
Create a Memory Palace for a targeted purpose
Use your Memory Palace
Review what you placed in your Memory Palace using Recall Rehearsal
Explain what you remembered and enjoy
That’s all there is to it, and when you need more help (or just want to join the fun), the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass remains the world’s premier resource for all things Memory Palace and beyond!
And on this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, scroll up, press play and you’ll learn:
Why pronunciation is one of the first barriers language learners face and why lack of familiarity with sounds frustrates most people.
Why Gabriel talked about memory scientist Hermann Ebbinghaus as a masochist, and how he’s helping eliminate masochism from the language learning process.
The role of learning a language without translations to cause your brain to make associations you wouldn’t discover any other way.
How to create useful language connections using Google images and create fill-in-the-blank-sentences.
Why Gabriel is working so hard to replace one of the most commonly used SRS software for language learning.
Why you need to make your own flash cards and the decisions you can make to take a more active role in your language education experience.
What makes SRS and search-based websites such a huge burden and Gabriel’s hard won experiences learning to use them with “two-handed mouse and keyboard maneuvers.”
The difference between “busy-work” related to language learning and actually learning the language.
The role of choice in language learning and why it pays off big time in language study.
Why you need differentiation when looking at variation sentences for your memory to benefit from the Von Restorff Effect and related memory effects.
The value of looking at words both in context and out of context.
How engineering influenced Gabriel’s quest to create a language-focused SRS app better than any other in existence.
How Gabriel has tested and optimized the user experience in order to create an easier learning process with real people.
The hidden connection between desperation, motivation and the unexplainable sources of inspiration that lead to the “joy-fueled” energy that propels learners towards fluency.
Why you don’t need to know your “why” to learn a language.
Fascinating ideas on how to use recordings to help you remember gendered nouns – an incredible idea that you’re not going to want to miss!
Oh, and Gabriel’s a great singer too. Check this out:
So, what do you say? Are you excited?
I know I am, so make sure to check out Gabriel’s Language Blog on the Fluent Forever website so you can learn more about his upcoming app and how to get involved.
Additional Resources for Gabriel Wyner And Fluent Forever
As I go through my early memories, I’m unpacking so much creativity, so much energy, so much joy.
In your past, you’ll discover so much about yourself.
You’ll discover so many people you’ve known. So many places you’ve been.
Even better, you’ll realize that you always have all the assets you need to accomplish any goal or need.
Right now.
But if you don’t mine your past for the gold…
You’ll Be Stuck Swimming With The Fishes Of Your Own Invention
Frankly, I find that outcome unacceptable.
It goes completely against all ethics, morality and the Paradise of Multiple Intelligences we learned about from Tony Buzan brimming inside each and every person in the world.
What must you have to do to unpack your glorious multiple intelligences?
The answer is easy:
Use them!
Often!
Proudly!
The Number One Reason People Stay In The Goldfish Bowl
You know the answer, don’t you?
It’s confidence.
People lack confidence for a number of reasons.
Maybe they had poor childhood experiences…
Maybe some disease crippled their bodies…
Maybe they have a speech impediment…
Whatever.
None of those issues have stopped the best of the best from succeeding.
And yet when you accept a limiting story about your attention span, you’re the most crippled person on the planet.
How To Gain Confidence In Anything Faster Than The Speed Of Light
Two steps:
1. Understand D.O.C.
D.O.C. is an acronym.
It stands for:
Doing is the Origin of Confidence
It really is that simple.
If you want to gain confidence in an activity, all you have to do is get started.
Most of us are spooked by unfamiliar territory.
Me too, quite frankly.
But if there’s one thing that distinguishes those who playing to win from those playing not to lose is this:
They enter the darkness.
And simply being in the darkness sheds more light on the unknown than you’ll ever need.
Then comes the next trick I’ve got for you:
2. Don’t Give Up At The First Sign Of Trouble
You know why it’s so lonely at the top?
Because 99.9% of people who enter a field of mastery give up at the first sign of trouble.
Why? Barbara Oakley cites evidence in Mindshift that it has a lot to do with the insular cortex.
That scientific fact creates one illuminating and elucidating power:
The pain you feel when something feels hard or doesn’t go right the first time?
Completely Normal!
And all you have to do to get accustomed to it is simply try again.
What you’re looking for is something quite simple.
It’s called a “quick victory.”
Sometimes you get them straight up. Other times, the quick victory doesn’t come so quick.
To be fair, there may be times when the quick victory isn’t coming at all.
When To Cut Your Losses Without The Shame Of Giving Up
Look:
I’m not preaching that you should bang your head against the wall.
There’s no use in doing that. Ever.
But as you give things several good tries and observe yourself in the process, you’ll know that it’s time to back out based on one simple metric:
The Magnetic Memory Method P.I. (No, Not ‘Private Investigator’)
Basically, you have to learn a bit more about what gives you pleasure, and the different kinds of pleasure available to you and your brain.
For example, there is the satisfaction of a hard day’s work.
Or there is the feeling of being in “the zone.”
It could also be the feeling of progressing towards a goal by knocking off milestones, one at a time.
And as you knock off those milestones, you’re documenting the process like an artist in a sketchbook so you can see your progress.
Whatever you do, you need to create a Pleasure Index. Know what turns you on. What rattles your cage. Discover the signs and symptoms of growth and celebrate each and every one.
This Is How Attention Span Grows And Grows
Nietzsche pointed out that the human species will always need myths.
But we don’t need to blindly accept them.
Rather, we can choose the myths we use to guide our progress through life.
In place of the goldfish attention span myth, why not pick something more empowering?
Be like an arrow flying toward a goal.
Or be like the hawk, observant of every movement in the field, hunting only those objects that sustain self and family.
Otherwise, we all risk living a disempowered life.
And the moments that filter past while we’re spinning circles in the fishbowl?
They’re never coming back.
I’d rather be up in the sky, soaring over the world and basking in the fullest possible attention span the human brain can achieve.
It’s so quiet up here where the better myths of human psychology fly free.
Hate flying? I sure do, but with a solid walking meditation, all aspects of the flights I take go much smoother.
Even if astrology is complete nonsense, it’s a neat memory exercise to know the Zodiac inside and out.
Would you like to eliminate the ‘busy-work’ from your language learning activities?
Don’t you hate it when people spew nonsense about 
