The Art of Walking Meditation

Find little blips of time throughout your day. I complete a standing/walking meditation at moments where I am forced to pause, like while at the grocery store’s long line. Take these small openings of time for awareness building. Waiting becomes a less annoying preoccupation and instead becomes an oppurtunity.

The slower the movement, the better. The concepts remain the same. You’re paying attention to each activity in each step.

In Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche’s memoir  In Love with the World: A Monk’s Journey Through the Bardos of Living and Dying,  he describes the basic mindful cadence of walking meditation as lifting, moving, and placing each foot.

In his mind, he repeats lifting, moving, placing while in the act of walking. During the combination of moving and concentrating, you are partaking in a Vipassana practice.

Use a more exact phraseology mentally and physically. Focus on and say (either aloud or silently): heel up, lift, move, lower, touch, and press. Or, you may choose to count 1-2-3-4 to signify each movement.

Try starting small in your home with bare feet or in socks. Feel the floor as each foot lifts, moves, and places in a languid motion. Attempt to build this practice to 15 minutes at a time. You can walk in a small circle, double back on a short line in front of your bed even, or any other space. It’s free and available anywhere.

Try listening to a guided meditation as you walk. If you find it difficult to talk yourself through a meditation, try listening to a guided meditation as you would a podcast. Check out our library of free guided meditations.

Find little blips of time throughout your day. I complete a standing/walking meditation at moments where I am forced to pause, like while at the grocery store’s long line. Take these small openings of time for awareness building. Waiting becomes a less annoying preoccupation and instead becomes an oppurtunity.

The slower the movement, the better. The concepts remain the same. You’re paying attention to each activity in each step.

In Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche’s memoir In Love with the World: A Monk’s Journey Through the Bardos of Living and Dying, he describes the basic mindful cadence of walking meditation as lifting, moving, and placing each foot.

In his mind, he repeats lifting, moving, placing while in the act of walking. During the combination of moving and concentrating, you are partaking in a Vipassana practice.