“The purpose of meditation is make our minds calm and peaceful.”
~Anonymous
“Every path, every street in the world is your walking meditation path.”
~Thich Nhat Hanh
Lillian-Juda Leonard-Beach has inspired me to join her group, Meditation Monday. So every Monday I am going to explore ways to meditate and breathe. I know that I need to relieve stress and worry over selling a house or not selling a house and what my three teenage boys are doing. Also, breathing is so good for our mental and body health.
I am just beginning to learn about meditation. In the modern rush of the world, we lose touch with the peace that should be available to us. Remember, you don’t have to be Buddhist to meditate. Every religion has what I’d like to call contemplation. It’s a time to clear your head, feel peaceful and become a better person for yourself and for the people around you. Wikipedia describes contemplation as a type of prayer or meditation.
I highly recommend Thich Nhat Hanh’s (pronounced Tik-Nyat-Hawn) book, PEACE IS EVERY STEP. The subtitle is “The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life.” Thich Nhat Hanh is one of the best known Zen Masters today. In fact, he just had a wonderful interview with Oprah last February. He is originally from Central Vietnam. He came up the idea of “Engaged Buddhism”. Rather than sit still and meditate in a monastery he wanted to be in the world and make changes peacefully and mindfully. When I read that I though of Martin Luther King. So I was not surprised to read that Thich Nhat Hanh knew Martin Luther King and worked with him in the 60’s. Now he lives in Plum Village in France, writing and teaching to the world about mindfulness. This is a short biography. It’s very interesting to read about everything he’s done (see Oprah’s interview).
His Walking Meditation seems perfect for everyone but especially mothers. You want to clear your head during your walk of all you need to do, (laundry, dishes, carpooling) and of your ongoing grocery list. What do you need to practice walking meditation? Just a beautiful place to walk! Thich Nhat Hanh reminds us to enjoy the walking and the nature. Do not walk in order to arrive but just to walk.
So how do you do the Walking Meditation?
-
1. As you get ready to walk, extend you spine, relax your shoulders and have your arms hang naturally at your side. Take a few deep breaths before you start. Smile slightly as you exhale. Exhale tension and begin to relax. My yoga teacher used to say let gravity hold you and relax your muscles.
-
2.Don’t walk fast. Fast walking equals anxiety. Slow walking is happiness, peace and joy. Be in this moment.
-
3.Next coordinate your breathing with your steps. For instance, step with your right foot as you exhale. Then step with the left foot as you inhale. Or you may take three-four steps with each breath since you’ll be walking slowly.
-
4.I like to think something as I exhale and another word as I inhale. Maybe you say, “Exhale anger, breathe in peace.” “Breathe out stress. Breathe in joy.” Thich Nhat Hanh writes that you just say, “In, in, in. Out, out, out.” Continue saying it. Don’t forget to have a slight smile on your face. I also imagine that any wrinkles that have formed all day are erased.
-
5.Let your feet stretch out completely so that your entire foot is in contact with the ground.
-
6.Do this for about 20 minutes (give or take) and I think you will feel better able to take on the world!
From the Plum Village website:
Walking in this way should not be a privilege. We should be able to do it in every moment. Look around and see how vast life is, the trees, the white clouds, the limitless sky. Listen to the birds. Feel the fresh breeze. Life is all around and we are alive and healthy and capable of walking in peace.
Let us walk as a free person and feel our steps get lighter. Let us enjoy every step we make. Each step is nourishing and healing. As we walk, imprint our gratitude and our love on the earth.
Try this walking meditation. Let me know what you think!
Peace is every step.
The shining red sun is my heart.
Each flower smiles with me.
How green, how fresh all that grows.
How cool the wind that blows.
It turns the endless path to joy.
~From the book, Peace Is Every Step
