Walking Meditation (Kinhin)

Walking Meditation (Kinhin) is mindful walking where you focus all of your attention to your step and breath. It is also not walking to get anywhere, as you walk in a circle. Walking Meditation is interspersed with Sitting Meditation (Zazen) at our In-Person sittings and Daylong Retreats as do most Zen groups and monasteries.

How to do Formal Kinhin In a Group:

1. Form a loose circle, trying to space yourself relatively evenly.

2. Stand with your feet together.

3. When the wooden clappers are smacked, slowly begin raising one foot to take a step forward.

4. Slowly ease the stepping foot down, heel first until your foot is planted.

5. While doing this, begin slowly raising your other foot's heel up.

6. Once the first foot is fully planted, then slowly shift your weight and then step forward with the second foot, repeating the process, focusing on your breath.

7. The group will continue to do this in a clockwise circle until the wooden clappers are smacked again.

8. Stop and then bow.

9. The circle will then walk at a regular pace until each person is back in front of their meditation cushions/chair.

Practically, Walking Meditation helps you loosen your body after periods of Sitting Meditation (Zazen). Practice-wise, it can also act as a bridge from sitting to moving in the everyday world and be a practice you can do unobtrusively at any point doing your daily routine.

"Every path, every street in the world is your walking meditation path."

-Thich Nhat Hanh