How To Practice

walking meditation sample.1.mp3

(For a sample of a guided meditation, click on the above audio file)

Practicing Walking Meditation

The previous section began by exploring metaphors. After reviewing the variety of walking metaphors out there, do we now appreciate the power of walking as constructive of meaning?

In this section, we go a little bit further and suggest that walking itself is a meaningful practice that opens the mind into the present. Walking thus becomes a tool to an expanded appreciation of one's life in the present.

This section will explore the definition and practice of walking meditation.

Objectives

After this module, you will be able to:

distinguish between meditative and "non-meditative" walking meditation
practice preliminary relaxation techniques
distinguish between three speeds of walking meditation
understand the basics of establishing a walking meditation routine

What is "Walking Meditation"?

Thich Nhất Hanh, a renowned Buddhist monk and scholar, has written extensively about the practice of mindful walking meditation:

When you are walking along a path leading into a village, you can practice mindfulness. Walking along a dirt path, surrounded by patches of green grass, if you practice mindfulness you will experience that path, the path leading into the village. You practice by keeping this one thought alive: "I'm walking along the path leading into the village." Whether it's sunny or rainy, whether the path is dry or wet, you keep that one thought, but not just repeating it like a machine, over and over again (Nhất & Vo-Dinh, 1987, p.11)

Although the term "mindfulness" has become quite a catch-all phrase in recent years, Thich Nhất Hanh grounds this term in something that one can easily see and feel, starting from the steps to the path and, finally, into the village itself. If one could distill this teaching in a few points, perhaps it might look like this:

meditative walking consists of resting the mind in a simple thought, namely that of "I am walking"
the thought of walking is used to keep the mind fully present and alive to what is happening NOW.
the meditation itself is not mechanical but has to open up to the world.
walking meditation is attuned to sensations, but not attached to them.

“ATTUNED” VS “ATTACHED”

"ATTUNED" vs. "ATTACHED": A Healthy Attitude Toward Walking

What is the difference between being attuned to the environment where one walks, and being attached to it?

"Attuned":

knowing presence
awareness of all that emerges: sights, sounds, smells, tastes
attitude is light and receptive

"Attached":

preoccupied and stuck on a thought
awareness collapses into one or two thoughts
attitude is grasping /fearful

Jon Kabat-Zinn articulates the principle of going beyond attachment as "non-striving": not grasping experiences with the aim of gaining.

But here's an important caveat to walking meditation. Whether we are ATTUNED or ATTACHED, we hold the attitude that everything is OK! Being attuned allows us to contain our attachments while coming back to a relaxed and open mindset. So, even if we get stuck on something, such as a thought, a beautiful butterfly or whatnot, one can always return to the sensation and sense of walking.

Remember: Nothing is wrong with you! You are okay, no matter what experience you're having in this process! Through this content attitude, one can appreciate every state of their being in practice without trying to look for "only good" experiences.

Click below to download and print a sample walking meditation script

Sample Script: How to Do Walking Meditation

References

Nhất, H., & Vo-Dinh, M. (1987). The miracle of mindfulness: A manual on meditation. Boston: Beacon Press.

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