Ever wondered how to walk?

Hi beautiful friends,

Probably not!

Have you ever been taught how to walk?

Probably not!

Most of us never give walking a second thought—unless pain enters the picture and suddenly every step demands our attention. Walking seems automatic, instinctive… and in many ways it is.

As I write in my soon-to-be-finished book Karana Posture:

“Contained within our innate ability to take to our feet are all our ancestors’ patterns from eons past.”

Every one of us inherits an ancestral blueprint—a unique cellular, structural, and neurological template that influences how we stand, move, and organise ourselves in gravity. Our bones, fascia, muscles, reflexes, even our habitual tensions, all carry echoes of what came before.

But inherited doesn’t always mean optimal. And over time, injury, stress, modern lifestyles, repetitive movement, emotional holding patterns and simply “making do” can pull us even further away from our natural design.

Then you come into my practice…

And it’s highly likely I’ve asked you to stand in a way that feels slightly—or dramatically—different from your usual habit. For many people, simply standing differently is challenging enough. It asks your nervous system to trust something unfamiliar.

But then comes the next question:

How do you take this new way of standing… into walking?

This is where the real integration begins.

Walking is simply standing… in motion.

There are five key areas to bring your awareness to as you practice the 'Karana Walk'.

1. The Centre

The point where your lumbar spine meets your pelvis corresponds closely to your centre of gravity—and energetically, your centre of power. I simply call it the Centre.

This is the most important part of the body. The Centre is the still-point around which the rest of your body moves. While your arms swing, your legs stride and all your joints glide and roll adapting to the changing terrain, the Centre remains stable and alive.

To create a stable Centre requires the balanced activation of both front and back body. The back of the Centre is supported by keeping the chest upright, allowing the postural muscles of the thoracic and lumbar spine to anchor into the pelvis. The front of the Centre is supported by a gentle lift of the lower abdomen upward and inward, awakening the deep abdominal wall.

This is not rigidity. It’s intelligent and responsive support, fluctuating with the depth of the breath and with weight-bearing demands.

A stable Centre not only protects the integrity of your spine—it increases power, efficiency, and speed. When the Centre is organised, the push generated by your toes, feet, calves, and buttocks travels cleanly through the body without leakage.

Pure propulsion.

The Centre is your foundation. From here, your attention moves downward.

2. The Hips

Walking is essentially a dance of hip extension and hip flexion.

When the hips extend well, the stride becomes effortless, powerful, and efficient. When hip extension is limited—as it often is after years of sitting—the lower back frequently tries to compensate.

And the spine pays the price.

Hip extension is commonly limited by tight hip flexors. Are you one of the countless clients to whom I’ve taught the ‘Psoas Stretch’?

As you walk, feel your hips opening behind you. Let the buttocks do their job. Trust the power nature built into them.

3. The Knees

You’ve heard me say it before:

“Unlock your knees.”“Soft knees.”“Don’t lock your knees!”

This applies just as much to walking as it does to standing.

Your knees should feel buoyant—alive, springy, responsive. Even during push-off, as the back leg extends, avoid snapping the knee into a locked position.

Stay soft.

These buoyant knees create more than comfort—they create adaptability. They help you absorb impact, adjust to uneven terrain, change direction, and respond fluidly to life beneath your feet. That’s what those menisci are designed for.

Soft knees also allow the hips to be free to rotate and adapt. When this happens, your spine doesn’t have to absorb unnecessary twisting, compression, or shearing forces.

Your knees are not just hinges. They are shock absorbers, springs, and messengers between earth and Centre.

Finally, be sure to also keep your knees tracking directly over the centre of your feet.

4. The Feet

Your feet are extraordinary.

Twenty-six bones. Thirty-three joints. Thousands of nerve endings.

They are your conversation with the earth.

As your foot meets the ground, feel the natural sequence of weight-bearing:

Heel → outer border of foot → ball of foot → all five toes.

And please…

Don’t forget the toes.

Your toes are not decorative.

They are essential stabilisers.

They widen your base of support, maintain the arches of the feet, help align your ankles, knees, and hips and contribute significantly to both your balance in the stance phase and your forward propulsion.

Lightly grip the earth.

Press the toes down to move forward.

The more awake and active your feet become, the more your entire body begins to organise itself above them. In many ways, healthy walking begins not only at the Centre…

…but at the toes.

5. The Head and Chest

Finally, bring your awareness upward.

Your chest remains quietly upright, open and alive.

Your head balances effortlessly over your spine while your gaze rests softly on the horizon—not down at your feet.

Where the eyes go, the body often follows.

When the head drops forward and the chest collapses, the Centre weakens, the stride shortens and the natural rotation of the thoracic spine begins to diminish. And this matters. Your thoracic spine is built to rotate.

Thoracic rotation allows your arms to swing, providing an opposing force of balance to your alternating steps. But equally importantly, this rotation transmits the energy of your swinging arms and flowing breath both upwards to the crown of your head and downwards into your stable Centre – adding greater glide, power and gravitas to your forward momentum. 

So, as you walk, you don’t simply move forward.

You rise as you move.

Walking with Awareness

Walking is something we do every day… yet it holds extraordinary potential. Within every conscious step lives the wisdom of your ancestors, the intelligence of your body and the possibility of a new way forward.

So, the next time you take to your feet, don’t simply walk from one place to another.

Walk with awareness.

Walk with Centre.

Feel your body and the earth beneath your feet.

Think chest upright, abdominals lifted, open the front of your hips, soften your knees, place your feet with purpose, look ahead and push off from your toes to your buttocks (see more detailed summary below).

And perhaps, in learning how to walk well, you discover you were never just moving through the world…

You were learning how to truly inhabit it.

Walking the earth with awareness, alignment, and a little lightness.

SUMMARY:

o   Keep your chest lifted to activate the lower thoracic spine and lumbar spine (the back of your Centre).

o   Draw your lower abdomen upwards and inwards to activate your deep abdominals (the front of your Centre) and stabilise your Centre.

o   Engage your buttocks to extend your hip as you push off.

o   Keep your knees soft and tracking over the centre of your feet.

o   Plant your feet consciously and with purpose.

o   Distribute your weight over the padded areas of the feet.

o   Use your alive toes to help lift your inner arch away from the earth.

o   Balance your chest over your pelvis and your head on top.

o   Swing your arms and allow your thoracic spine to rotate.

o   Use all your toes and their stability, balance and power to propel yourself forward along with your powerful buttock muscles.