The Walking Meditation Mat: Leveraging Targeted Heat Sensation to Guide Attention Inward
International Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems April 25, 2025 Tamar Dublin, Oren Zuckerman
A three-meter walking meditation mat with visual signifiers and heater pads was tested in a qualitative study. Participants reported that visual signifiers often drew attention outward, causing dizziness and imbalance, while targeted heat on the feet helped focus attention inward, promoting bodily sensations, calmness, grounding, and reflection. The findings suggest targeted heat can help balance inward and outward attention during walking meditation.