Understanding the First Person Experience of Walking Mindfulness Meditation Facilitated by EEG Modulated Interactive Soundscape

Abstract

Walking meditation is a form of mindfulness training, where the act of walking provides a rhythmic meter for attentional focus. Whilst digital technologies to support sitting meditation and walking practices exist, less explored is the first person in-the-moment experience of technology-mediated walking meditation. We present a study of group walking meditation, with and without an interactive rhythmic soundscape modulated by one practitioner’s brainwave data. Six workshops were conducted with novice and advanced practitioners, involving a guided walking meditation with body scan, writing and drawing exercises and a group interview. The analysis yielded themes of shifting state, attention, self-regulation strategy, and immersion and reflection, and insights into how practitioners use sound to synchronize both walking and breathing. We contribute a method for eliciting, and a novel description of, the first person experience of walking meditation, as resources for the design of interactive technologies to support mindfulness practices of walking meditation.