So walking meditation is learning to walk again with mindfulness so we practice stopping,
Calming,
Resting and healing with every step.
Letting go of our worries and our plans and projects and our regrets and going over things in our head and just really coming back to this practice of just being with the steps.
With each step we practice to be fully present 100%.
So we start with just standing,
Pausing and beginning and ending the practice with the sound of the bell.
So we're just lifting,
Moving,
Closing the foot,
Lifting,
Moving,
Placing.
So you can say the words lifting,
Moving,
Placing kind of like a mantra to help you stay present.
You can be aware of each step of placing the heel,
The ball,
The toes of the foot onto the surface beneath.
And with each step we can kiss the earth with our feet.
With each step walking peacefully,
Gently,
Slowly printing onto the earth our peace,
Our freedom,
Our solidity.
My teacher Thich Nhat Hanh says that every step in walking meditation can bring us joy,
Freedom.
He also says that the miracle is not to walk on water,
The miracle is to walk on the earth in peace,
Freedom and solidity.
And when we really contemplate it,
It is a miracle to be able to walk.
Just keep our mind with our steps.
When our mind wanders off and thinks about this and that,
Just like in the sitting meditation,
We bring our mind back to the steps,
The movement of the body,
Center of gravity shifting from one side to another.
We're aware of our breath.
We can even do this walking meditation in time with our breath,
Maybe breathing in with one step,
Breathing out with another,
Or breathing in and out with one step,
Depending on our own time and our own breath.
Just being aware.
And you can even use the phrase,
I am breathing in,
I am breathing out,
Or just simply in out.
It's a kind of a mantra.
Mantras purpose is just to help us focus our mind,
Stand steady,
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
In,
Out,
In,
Out.
Another mantra I like to use in walking meditation also comes from Thich Nhat Hanh.
Where he says,
I have arrived,
I am home.
And he means I have arrived in this moment.
I've come home to the here and now,
To the present moment,
Where all of life is available.
With each step we can smile.
If we're fully present,
We can smile,
Or we can stop until we become present,
And then take another step.
I have arrived,
I am home.
Arrive,
Arrive,
Home,
Home.
In the here and in the now,
Here,
Now,
Here,
Now.
I am solid,
I am free,
Solid,
Free.
Arrive,
Arrive,
Home,
Home.
Here,
Now,
Solid,
Free.
In the ultimate I dwell.
Just lifting,
Moving,
Placing.
Lifting,
Moving,
Placing the fit.
Lifting,
Moving,
Placing.
Lifting,
Moving,
Placing.
