Walk Your Way To Peace

Meditation: The How & The What
A Walking Practice

Hike in the Red Rocks

There are probably thousands of meditation techniques. Some are done in stillness and some in activity. Some are religious, others are secular. Some are done for five minutes, others for hours or days. The most important thing about learning to meditate is to find one you like, and then to do it. Knowing about meditation will not give you the benefits. Doing it will.

There are two elements to any meditation technique: how you pay attention, and what you pay attention to.

First the how: Focusing your attention does not require a harsh or militant concentration. Rather, it's paying attention in a gentle, restful, steady manner. So as you read this, bring your attention to your breath. There it is! It's been there the entire time. Your awareness of it only becomes enlivened because you simply shifted your attention to it. That was easy right? Yes. This is this same easy way you direct your attention to the focus of your meditation.

The what, or your focus, can be a variety of things: a word, a mantra, a prayer, a candle flame, the way your body feels, your movement, a sound you hear or make, or your own breathing. It's your call.

In meditation, we keep redirecting the attention to the focus, over and over again. This helps the mind to settle down and you'll experience quieter levels of thinking. You'll eventually have the direct experience of the thinker itself, without thoughts. It feels good - like a moment of a powerful, nourishing silence.

Your nervous system will grow used to turning inward if you practice regularly - it's a training of your awareness. This settling down and the experience of silence is a natural occurrence. But it doesn't come about because you will it or try hard. It is an effortless process. You can't think your way to not thinking.

Here's an active meditation practice that I did everyday when I lived in the Zen Buddhist training center. Called kinhin, it's a practice to break up the long seated meditation periods. We now do walking meditation during the various meditation retreats here in Sedona.

Walking meditation is easy to practice and can be done inside a building, outside on a trail in the wilderness, or on a busy sidewalk. You don't need a large space, you can even walk back and forth in a small room.

How to do it:

Start with five or ten minutes, gradually increasing as you please. This is a practice done in silence. It's not about walking slowly talking on your cell phone or listening to your iPod.

Begin by standing with your feet firmly planted on the ground. Let your hands rest easily, comfortably. Close your eyes for a moment and feel your body standing on the earth. Feel the space you take up and the sensation of standing and meeting the earth with your feet. Then open your eyes and let yourself be alert to the present moment.

Start out walking a little faster than normal and then gradually slow down the pace of walking until it starts to feel artificial and you start losing balance - it happens! Walk as comfortably slow as you can.

Don't focus on a particular destination, and as Thich Nhat Hanh suggests in his book, Peace Is Every Step, you can practice "arriving" with each step - each step becoming your destinaton. Walk with 'soft vision' allowing your eyes to relax without a particular focus, even smiling with your eyes with a relaxed face.

Focus on your hips, legs, and feet. Pay attention to the movement, lifting, and balance of your body as you shift from one leg to another. Feel your toes. Walk with slow, small, deliberate, graceful steps.

I also like to pay attention to my softened breath, without trying to control it. Letting it become fluid, but keeping it natural.

If a thought comes about the past or future, bring your attention back to what you feel: your breath and the movement, even the air on your skin. You can also bring your attention to the beauty of your surroundings, what you see, and hear, and smell.

When your time is up, come to a natural halt. Experience yourself standing. Notice the stillness. Feel your body's weight as it sinks down your legs through the soles of your feet into the earth.

Simply stand and experience yourself. With a deep breath, end your walking meditation. Meditators in the Zen Center signal the beginning and end of a walking meditation with a ringing of a bell and a ceremonial bow.

More....What meditation should I do?