One of the core practices in Zen is walking meditation. Sometimes when we are indoors staying in one place for a long time, we feel like we need nourishment; it could be contact with nature, or fresh air, or a change of environment, or to connect to something bigger than ourselves, such as this beautiful planet. We walk every day from one destination to the other, but we may not remember the first step we took this morning. Do we feel the contact of our feet on the earth? Walking meditation is walking with awareness of each step and each breath. Walking meditation also nourishes our joy. It teaches us how to slow down and appreciate every step.
Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh developed what would become the Plum Village practice of walking meditation during the war in Vietnam as a response to the suffering he witnessed all around him. As a young monk, he and the other monks and nuns didn’t want to contribute to the fighting and tried to find ways to bring peace instead. They formed the School of Youth for Social Service, providing aid and rebuilding bombed-out villages. As one of the few bright young monks who could speak English and French very well, Thay was sent to the United States and to other countries in the West to speak and raise awareness of what was really happening in Vietnam.
While he was in the US, he suddenly received the news that he had been exiled from Vietnam for his antiwar activities. In that moment of shock, despair, and deep suffering, he came back to his breathing. Realizing that being still in seated meditation could feel very overwhelming, he began to bring the practice of mindful breathing into walking. The mind can go in ten thousand directions from all the feelings, emotions, and difficulties that can afflict us, but as practitioners we know that we can be the master of our own mind.
Thay realized, “As long as I am alive, as long as I am still breathing, I can still arrive home anywhere on this planet. My true home is not Vietnam; my true home is in the present moment. My true home is wherever on Earth I allow myself to truly be there.” This was an insight that helped him liberate himself from overwhelming feelings of isolation, disconnection, and exile. Now, he has transmitted this practice to us.
When we walk anywhere, we can practice walking meditation and bring our attention to the soles of our feet. We really feel the contact of each foot on the ground from the heel to the sole of the foot to the gentle lift of our toes pushing us a little bit forward to make the next step.
“My true home is in the present moment.”
In our practice, we can combine that awareness of the movement of the soles of the feet touching the earth with the awareness of our breath. We’re always breathing, so why not take advantage of our breath to be in harmony with the body? It might feel a little bit stiff at the beginning, but trust your own capacity to harmonize your breath and your steps. Trust your own ability to walk with freedom.
While you walk, let yourself really be present with each step that you take. To practice feeling at home in the present moment is a real art, but walking meditation is a practice that you can use anywhere, and you can start it right away.
♦
From Being with Busyness: Zen Ways to Transform Overwhelm and Burnout by Brother Phap Huu and Jo Confino, courtesy of Parallax Press, parallax.org.