Walking Meditation

lamaramadingdong

I just started meditating on a regular basis about 4 months ago. I am interested in learning to do walking meditation, but am having trouble finding an appropriate pace. It feels too slow if I try to coordinate each step with both an in and out breath. Also, do people follow a pre-ordained path or let the walking meditation take them where it will? Any and all feedback is appreciated.

patbb

lamaramadingdong wrote: »

It feels too slow if I try to coordinate each step with both an in and out breath.

i'm not sure what kind of walking meditation style you are trying to do but usually you don't try to coordinate the breath with the steps.

Actually you don't worry about the breath, your attention should be on the feet and not on the breath.

You should have a determined path so not to distract yourself from your meditation.

http://www.buddhanet.net/xmed7.htm
this seems to be a nice little article to explain how to.

RichardH

There are different ways. Mindful walking doesn't equal slow walking. Awareness is not a condition, fast and slow walking conditions are equal. At a recent retreat there where dozens of meditators walking on a big lawn, some were slow, some were fast, some were normal speed. Some walked twenty paces, some 30 or 40. One monk just walked around and around the perimeter.

lightwithin

Walking meditation can be done by coordinating the paces with the breath, which would mean a very slow, deliberate walk, as you have said. For obvious reasons, doing this in public would just bring puzzled stares at you and use up a lot of your time to get where you're going.

So if your intention is to meditate while you're walking from A to B, like from work to your lunch place, you can walk at a normal pace, not too fast or slow, and what matters is that you take the same amount of breaths during a certain number of steps.

It doesn't matter where you're going or if you're walking in circles around your lawn, what does matter is how mindful and present in the moment you are. The same principles of sitting meditation apply to walking meditation aside from the obvious.