For several weeks, we’ve been talking about what it means in this work to “become worthy.” After examining what we don’t mean by worthiness – and what we do mean – we’re now ready to put it into practice … and take it with us into our daily lives.

Let’s start with the first moment you awaken each morning. What are your thoughts before you even open your eyes? Are they inspired and full of intention? Or are they a familiar litany of the same old problems and worries that bring up those all-too-common feelings you live by on a daily basis? Maybe you don’t recall – because you’re in the habit of reaching for your phone before you even set your feet on the floor. You know, everyone does it.

Now let’s say you’ve set an intention to start your day as the creator of your life. You’ve been meaning to try one of my Walking Meditations for some time – and every night, you make a date with yourself for first thing the next morning. But every day, when the alarm goes off before sunrise, you talk yourself out of it. It’s so early. It’s too cold. It’s raining. My bed is so comfortable. My back hurts. I have too much to do. I really don’t have time today. I’ll start tomorrow.

You can see, in a decision-making moment like this, why it matters to be aware of your thoughts. If you’re not conscious of them on waking, you can predict the outcome of this internal struggle – every single day. You’re going to talk yourself out of doing something differently or making a new choice.

Let’s face it – without that kind of self-awareness, you’re not going to keep the date you made the night before. And, over time, you might start feeling like you failed again – or you’re stuck. And that might lead to that unconscious feeling of being unworthy – because you didn’t keep your word with yourself.

But let’s imagine you’ve been doing this work for a while, And, over time, you’ve become aware of your unconscious programming. More and more, you catch yourself before you go unconscious. Something is stirring in you.

And one day, when the alarm goes off, you override those old messages. You don’t hit the snooze button. You don’t scroll through your phone for an hour instead of meditating. This particular day, you don’t tell yourself you’ll start tomorrow.

This is the day you decide to show up for yourself.

With determination, you get yourself ready and get outside. You don’t know what to expect, but that’s OK. You’re the scientist – and your life is your experiment. And in your experiment, you’re curious to find out: If I change the way I think, act, and feel today, will something new show up in my life?

Before you begin, you spend some time contemplating what you want to create – and who you want to be. And this time, you’re sincere and intentional about this morning’s meditation.

Here’s what you’ve been asking yourself to get ready for this walk:

• When I start this walk, who am I leaving behind?
• When I open my eyes, who don’t I want to be any longer?
• When I open my eyes, whose eyes will I be looking through?
• When I start to walk, who do I want to become?

Shoes laced, headphones in, intentions set, you’re ready. It’s time to practice demonstrating what it would feel like to be this person with your eyes open. But first, so you’re not distracted from the task of transforming your inner world of thoughts and feelings, you close your eyes to change your energy.

It’s time to begin your Walking Meditation.


The Walking Meditation – a tool of transformation

Until they’ve experienced what it means to “walk as it,” people have a lot of questions about the Walking Meditations. But, just like our other practices in this work, they’re a tool – a tool of transformation.

We’ve talked a lot about leaving the old self behind; overriding our habitual thoughts, behaviors, and feelings; showing up in meditation; letting go of our attachment to the familiar and entering the unknown – and learning how to be comfortable with it.

But this work isn’t simply about having a great meditation every morning, then standing up as the exact same person who initially sat down – and going unconscious the rest of the day. It’s about getting so good at it with our eyes closed, we can then practice it with our eyes open.

Walking Meditations are an opportunity to practice transitioning from seated meditation (where we change our energy with our eyes closed) to an active meditation, where we change our energy while standing with our eyes closed – and then walk in that energy with our eyes open.

We outwardly demonstrate who we want to be in our future. First, we must believe it’s possible. Then, it’s time to practice behaving as if it is. That’s the walk. And finally, we have to become that person – in mind, body, heart, and soul.

Walking Meditations are an essential part of this work. They’re a focal point of our Week Long Advanced Retreats around the world. And it’s amazing what can happen in just one hour – in just one walk.

In a sense, at each Week Long Advanced Retreat, we see a shortened version of the cycle above. People make a date with themselves. They have all sorts of reasons not to keep it. They think they’re doing the meditation wrong. They think they’re not getting the results they want – or things are moving too slowly. They can’t get beyond their analytical mind. They want to quit.

But they don’t quit. They keep showing up. And in that act of showing up, they’re making a strong declaration: they no longer want to remain in the known. They’re curious about what’s on the other side of it. They’re ready for the unknown. They’re becoming worthy to receive each time they show up for themselves.

When we overcome ourselves in this way, we’re overcoming thousands of years of programming – programming that says the unknown is a dangerous place; something to run from. When we show up and spend time in the unknown, we realize nothing bad happened. And we can move out of survival – and relax in the present moment.

In this state, we’re no longer obsessing about the thing we’re trying to create. Instead, we feel like we already have it. This is the place where we’re worthy to receive. We’re no longer controlling, predicting, trying, manipulating, analyzing, or competing – all the things we typically do to force an outcome. We’re no longer looking for anything outside of us to complete us. We already feel complete.

When I witness students in Walking Meditation, this is what I see: people experiencing an incredible sense of wholeness. When they repeatedly show up for themselves, it means they believe that new future is possible. That’s why they’re doing it now. In fact, when they finish their one-hour walk, they’re more connected to the emotions of their future – instead of the familiar feelings of the past.

And the more they do it, the more worthy they feel to receive it. Because to believe in that future, they have to believe in themselves.


Walking in Worthiness

Whether you’re practicing with our community in a group setting, or you make a date with yourself every morning at home – any time you show up for yourself, you’re saying to the universe: Here I am. I believe in myself. I showed up as the creator of my life – despite all those thoughts, automatic habits, and familiar emotions that almost kept me in bed this morning. I showed up despite all the things that try to talk me out of my new future.

When you keep that commitment to yourself, you’re saying: I believe in possibility. I believe in my future. I believe in myself.

Think about this: If you didn’t believe in that future, you wouldn’t show up. So, through your effort alone, you’re letting the universe know: I have become more worthy to receive. I’m ready. You’re accepting the invitation to inhabit the life you’re creating. To walk as your future self.

And if you do it enough times, you can develop a new habit: the habit of being worthy.

So picture it: before you start your walk, you’ve taken the time to contemplate who you want to be – and who you no longer want to be. Your intentions are clear. Now, you’re ready. You know who you’re leaving behind … and you know who you’re ready to walk as.

You’re ready to practice with your eyes open; to see the world through new eyes; to fall in love with life and your new future before it unfolds; to feel as if whatever you were seeking has already happened to you.

You’re ready to walk in worthiness.

These challenges will come up again and again. There will always be the allure of the snooze button, the comfortable bed, the glow of the phone, the illusion of starting tomorrow. But the next time those old thoughts try to keep you in the known, ask yourself: Is this what a worthy person would do?

And then, take a walk with me. Because the walk is worth it. Because you’re worth the walk. Take a walk … and become worthy of the life you love.