4. Walking Meditation

Walking Meditation (Thich Nhat Hanh):

• Walking in mindfulness brings us peace and joy, and makes our life real. Why rush? Our final destination will only be the graveyard. Why not walk in the direction of life, enjoying peace in each moment with every step? There is no need to struggle. Enjoy each step. We have already arrived.
  
  
• Walking meditation helps us regain our sovereignty, our liberty as a human being. We walk with grace and dignity, like an emperor, like a lion. Each step is life.
  
  
• When we practice walking meditation, we arrive in each moment. Our true home is in the present moment. When we enter the present moment deeply, our regrets and sorrows disappear, and we discover life with all its wonders. Breathing in, we say to ourselves, “I have arrived. Breathing out, we say, “I am home”. When we do this we overcome dispersion and dwell peacefully in the present moment, which is the only moment for us to be alive.
  
  
• When you begin to practice walking meditation, you might feel unbalanced, like a baby learning to walk. Follow your breathing, dwell on your steps, and soon you will find your balance. Visualise a tiger walking slowly, and you will find that your steps become as majestic as his.
  
  
• Walk upright, with calm, dignity and joy, as though you were an emperor. Place your foot on the Earth the way an emperor places his seal on a royal decree. A decree can bring happiness or misery. Your steps can do the same. If your steps are peaceful, the world will have peace. If you can make one peaceful step, then peace is possible.
  
  
• People say that walking on water is a miracle, but to me, walking peacefully on the Earth is the real miracle. The Earth is a miracle. Each step is a miracle. Taking steps on our beautiful planet can bring real happiness.
  
  
• Walk and touch peace with every moment.
  
  
• Walk and touch happiness every moment.
  
  
• Each step brings a fresh breeze.
  
  
• Each step makes a flower bloom.
  
  
• Kiss the Earth with your feet.
  
  
• Bring the Earth your love and happiness.
  
  
• The Earth will be safe when we feel safe in ourselves.
  
  
• Try practicing this verse as you walk: I have arrived. I am home, in the here and in the now. I am solid. I am free. In the ultimate I dwell.
  
  (When Thich Nhat Hanh talks of the ultimate, he is referring to the Ultimate Reality as opposed to Relative Reality, which is the true present moment in its fullness and the fullness of who we really are – the ground of our being, without being lost in thought or in our world of concepts).
  
  Taken from “The Long Road Turns to Joy: a guide to walking meditation” by Thich Nhat Hanh

NHS Lothian, 2017