Walking in Pittsburgh

(serene music) Hi, and welcome to this head space walk, taking you on a pleasant stroll around some of Pittsburgh's finest sites and open spaces, starting near Schenley Plaza and ending 1.8 miles later at the Carnegie Museum and Library. This walk should take you around 40 minutes to complete. Okay, you're ready? Our starting point is going to be at the junction of Schenley Drive Extension where it meets Forbes Avenue. If you're not already there, make your way over and find a quiet spot where you can stand for a minute. This is intended to be a mindful walk designed to keep you in the present moment, step by step without distraction and fully aware of your surroundings. We'll guide you along for the first 15 minutes or so and by the end, the hope is that you'll feel a little calmer and clearer. Before we begin, we're going to take a moment to get centered physically so that later, we can get centered mentally. So first, place your feet shoulder width apart, standing straight but relaxed. Feeling the weight of your body on your feet and just subtly shifting the weight from side to side, pressing each sole into the ground, just stay with this gentle sensation for a moment. The benefit of this exercise is that it grounds us and returns us to the present moment. View it as a recalibration of sorts, a chance to put down whatever is on your mind an opportunity to take a breather, and perhaps adopt a different perspective on things. Okay, you're ready? Let's start walking along Forbes Avenue, heading towards Dippy the Dinosaur on the right, just before the Carnegie Music Hall and the Natural History Museum. Walking has been shown to relax the body and open the mind. So no matter what time of day it is right now, no matter what thoughts and emotions are swirling around, we're going to see if we can walk it all off and let go of it all for at least the next 40 minutes or so. Notice the feeling of each step as you walk, the picking up of your feet, right, left, right, left, right, left. You're not trying to change anything here, you're just maintaining a natural, comfortable rhythm, no special pace is required. So just continuing this way, tuning into the feeling of your feet, experiencing the sensation of your heel against the ground and your sole, the ball of your foot, your toes, noticing how different sensations move through the feet. Keep breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth, just feeling the way your arms gently move by your side, feeling the ground with each stride. Don't think too much about all of this, a gentle focus is enough. By bringing our attention to these sensations, you are helping to keep your awareness in the body staying present. If at any point you get distracted by thinking or by something around you,...