January 7 – Walking

By | January 7, 2017

Dear Friends,

Walking meditation. There are plenty of instructions on how to do the formal practice. An older article in Tricycle collected thoughts on walking from a number of respected teachers:
Walking: Meditation on the Move
Achaan Chah, Sylvia Boorstein, Yasutani Roshi, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Thich Nhat Hanh, Joan Halifax, Bruce Chatwin, Henry David Thoreau, and Matsuo Basho on walking meditation
https://tricycle.org/magazine/walking-meditation-move/

If you’re looking for a guided meditation for a formal walking meditation, check out this one:
http://www.diydharma.org/walking-meditation-sharon-salzberg (It’s not actually Sharon Salzberg leading the meditation, but I presume she must have written the script that the person is reading.)

A less renowned individual blogged about her walking meditation experience a couple of years ago… 🙂
https://saskatooninsight.com/wp/real-happiness-challenge/real-happiness-2015/ministry-of-silly-walks-with-andrea-g/
(I’m better at walking meditation now!)

There are so many places in life that we walk. We walk through our homes. We walk from the car to the grocery store. We walk in the grocery store. As Andrea Fella mentions in the walking instructions for the daily life practice retreat, “The walking meditation that we teach, ‘lifting, moving, placing’ is not a practice you can really do in a grocery store.”

For mindful walking in daily life – at the grocery store, for example – she suggests a broader type of mindfulness. Like the guided meditation yesterday, she suggests starting with a sense of ease. Maybe speed up a little bit, see how that makes you feel with respect to ease in the body. Slow down a little, see how that makes you feel. Find the pace that feels really easeful and comfortable. Then just begin checking in, “is there ease?”, or “relax”, or “what’s obvious?” Allow what is obvious to come to you.

If you find “what’s obvious” is too scattered for you, then she suggests another approach – to explore four areas while walking – seeing, hearing, body moving through space, and feet touching the ground. For the first 10 or so paces, notice that seeing is happening. Then shift your attention for the next 10 or so paces, to notice that hearing is happening. Then shift your attention for the next 10 or so paces, to notice the simplicity of the body moving. Then the next 10 or so paces, to the feet touching the ground. Then continue, alternating through those four areas of experience. If you need help remembering, the order goes from top to bottom (seeing – hearing – body through space – feet touching the ground). Again, this is done at a pace that is easeful.

For those of you in Saskatoon, you’re welcome to join the Saskatoon Insight Meditation Community Sangha Walk on Sunday, January 8. We meet at the fire pit at the Meewasin Skating Rink (just north of the Bessborough). We will leave right at 2 PM, walk and visit for about 20 minutes, then turn around and walk back in silence, with ease, noticing what’s obvious. After, we’ll gather at a coffee shop or some place warm for tea and visiting. I hope you’ll consider joining us!

With best wishes,
Andrea