Yoga doesn’t always look like stillness on the mat. Sometimes, and almost many, it looks like wobbling through trying a new post. Other times, it feels like rediscovering muscles you forgot you had. And sometimes - if you're anything like me - it means trying to focus while your curious cat runs circles around your mat.But in all of that, there’s beauty.
Recently, I’ve been exploring a playful series of
walking movements
woven into my practice - simple steps that challenge my balance, build coordination, and bring a deeper awareness to my hips, core, and pelvic space. I like to think of them as “sacred steps” - not just an exercise, but mindful motion and movement that supports both my strength and softness.
These walking sequences are beautifully accessible and surprisingly powerful. They help bridge that space between stillness and movement - and they make your yoga practice feel alive, awake, and connected from the ground up.
Here are a few I return to again and again:
1. Tadasana Walk
Rooted in Mountain Pose, this walk brings attention to your posture and alignment. It strengthens the legs and encourages an upright, confident stance - not just on the mat, but in everyday life.
2. Heel Walk
Simple, yet challenging. Walking on your heels helps activate the muscles around the calves, ankles, and shins. It brings a playful awareness to how you carry your weight and can even improve ankle stability over time.
3. Malasana Walk
A deep squat with movement, this one’s a hip-opener and a strength-builder in one. It’s grounding and humbling - and invites you to move slowly, intentionally, and with breath.
4. Hip Walk
Also known as “seated scooting,” this is a fantastic way to engage the core and increase hip mobility. It’s quirky, but it works - and it always reminds me not to take myself too seriously.
5. Reverse Walk
Walking backward may sound easy, but it activates parts of your lower body in new ways. It also challenges your coordination and encourages present-moment awareness. You can’t walk backward while zoning out - it demands focus.
Movement as Meditation
What I love most about these practices is how they draw you out of your head and into your body. Every step becomes a form of meditation - a chance to notice your body, breath, balance, and how you respond when things feel unfamiliar or unsteady. These walking variations are wonderful to weave into your warm-up or use as their own mini-flow. And if you’re dealing with things like hip tension, pelvic floor weakness, or low back discomfort, they offer both gentle challenge and deep support.
Plus, if you have a four-legged friend like my cat Blondie, they might turn your mat into their playground! That’s okay. Let it be part of the joy.
A Practice for Real Life
The truth is, the beauty of yoga is that it’s not about perfection. It’s not about how elegant your poses look or how long you can hold them. It’s about presence. Curiosity. Grace. And if you want to explore that sense of presence in motion, I wrote about it in
Walking as a Path to Presence, which includes a flow around on how even our simplest steps can become mindful ones.
So next time you step onto your mat, try adding a little movement into your flow. Walk, wobble, explore. Let your feet guide you into new awareness. You might be surprised by what you find - not just in your body, but in your spirit.
Yoga doesn’t have to be still to be sacred. Sometimes, it’s the smallest, silliest, most unexpected steps that bring us back to our center.
