Walking Meditation

 Walking meditation is practicing meditation while walking. It can bring you joy and peace while you practice it. Take short steps in complete relaxation: go slowly with a smile on your lips, with your heart open to the experience of peace. You can feel truly at ease with yourself. Your steps can be those of the healthiest, most secure person on earth. All sorrows and worries can drop away while you are walking. To have peace of mind, to attain self-liberation, learn to walk in this way. It is not difficult. You can do it. Anyone can do it who has some degree of mindfulness and a true intention to be happy.

 In our daily lives, we usually feel pressured to move ahead. We have to hurry. We seldom ask ourselves where it is that we must hurry to.
 When you practice walking meditation, you go for a stroll. You have no purpose or direction in space or time. The purpose of walking meditation is walking meditation itself. Going is important, not arriving. Walking meditation is not a means to an end; it is an end. Each step is life; each step is peace and joy. That is why we don’t have to hurry. That is why we slow down. We seem to move forward, but we don’t go anywhere; we are not being drawn by a goal. Thus we smile why we are walking.

 In daily life, our steps are burdened with anxieties and fears. Life itself seems to be a continuous chain of insecure feelings, so our steps lose their natural easiness.
 Our earth is truly beautiful. There is so much graceful, natural scenery along paths and roads around the earth! Do you know how many dirt lanes there are, lined with bamboo, or winding around scented rice fields? Do you know how many forest paths there are, paved with colorful leaves, offering cool and shade? They are all available to us, yet we cannot enjoy them because our hearts are not trouble-free, and our steps are not at ease.
 Walking meditation is learning to walk again with ease. When you were about a year old, you began to walk with tottering steps. Now, in practicing walking meditation, you are learning to walk again. However, after a few weeks of practice, you will be able to step solidly, in peace and comfort. I am writing these lines to assist you in doing that. I wish you success.

 If I had the Buddha’s eyes and could see through everything, I could discern the marks of worry and sorrow you leave in your footsteps after you pass, like the scientist who can detect tiny living beings in a drop of pond water with a microscope. Walk so that your footsteps bear only the marks of peaceful joy and complete freedom. To do this, you have to learn to let go – let go of your sorrows, let go of your worries. That is the secret of walking meditation.

 If I had supernatural power, I could take you up to the Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha for a visit, or the the Kingdom of God if you are a Christian. I am sure that everything would be nice and clean there, with beautiful scenery. But once you were there, how would your footsteps be? Could you be sure that your footprints in the Pure Land would not show traces of worries and sorrows you carried from this samsaric, worldly life?
 If you take your worries and sorrows along with you and set them on the Pure Land, you would defile the Pure Land and make it less pure! To deserve the Pure Land, you must be able to take peaceful and anxiety-free steps right here on this samsaric ground.

 I’m sure that I would not offend Buddha or God by telling you a secret: if you could take those peaceful and anxiety-free steps while walking on earth, there would be no need for you to go to the Pure Land or to the Kingdom of Heaven. There is a simple reason for this: saṃsāra and the Pure Land both come from the Mind. When you are peaceful, joyful and free, saṃsāra is transformed into the Pure Land, and you don’t need to go anywhere. Then, even if I had supernatural power, I would not have to use it.

 To have peace and joy and inner freedom, you need to learn how to let go of your sorrows and worries, the elements that create unhappiness. First of all, notice that this world contains all the wonders you could expect to find in the Buddha Land. It is only because of our veil of sorrows and worries that we cannot always see these wonders.
 I always think that I like this world even better than I would the Pure Land because I like what the world offers: lemon trees, orange trees, banana trees, pine trees, apricot trees, and willow trees. Some people say that in the Pure Land there are valuable lotus ponds, seven-gem trees, and roads paved with gold, and that there are special celestial birds. I don’t think I would like these very much. I would rather not walk on roads paved with gold and silver. I wouldn’t even use roads that are lined with marble here on earth. Dirt roads with meadows on both sides are my favorite. I love pebbles and leaves covering the ground. I love bushes, streams, bamboo fences, and ferries.
 When I was a young novice, I told my Master, “If the Pure Land doesn’t have lemon trees, then I don’t want to go.” He shook his head and smiled. Maybe he thought I was a stubborn youngster. However, he did not say that I was right or wrong. Later, when I learned that both the world and the Pure Land come from the Mind, I was very happy. I was happy since I knew that lemon trees and star-fruit trees exist also in the Pure Land, with dirt roads and green grass on both sides.
 I knew that if I kept my eyes open in mindfulness and my steps at ease, I could find my Pure Land. That is why I do not let a single day pass without practicing walking meditation.

 Choose a nice road for your practice, along the shore of a river, in a park, on the flat roof of a building, in the woods, or along a bamboo fence. Such places are ideal, but they are not essential. I know there are people who practice walking meditation in reformation camps, even in small prison cells.
 It is best if the road is not too rough or steep. Slow down and concentrate on your steps. Be aware of each move. Walk straight ahead with dignity, calm, and comfort. Consciously make an imprint on the ground as you step. Walk as the Buddha would. Place your foot on the surface of the earth the way an emperor would place his seal on a royal decree.
 A royal decree can bring happiness or misery to people. It can shower grace on them or it can ruin their lives. Your steps can do the same. If your steps are peaceful, the world will have peace. If you can take one peaceful step, you can take two. You can take one hundred and eight peaceful steps.

 What activity is most important in your life? To pass an exam, get a car or a house, or get a promotion in your career? There are so many people who have passed exams, who have bought cars and houses, who have gotten promotions, but still find themselves without peace of mind, without joy, and without happiness. The most important thing in life is to find this treasure, and then to share it with other people and with all beings. In order to have peace and joy, you must succeed in having peace within each of your steps. Your steps are the most important thing. They decide everything. I am lighting a stick of incense and joining my palms together as a lotus bud to pray for your success.

 In a certain Zen center, at the entrance to the walking meditation path, there stands a big stone carved with the words, “Bo bo thanh phong khoi,” which means “Each step will cause a breeze to rise.” How grand, how beautiful that is! The fresh breeze is the experience of peace and liberation which blows away the heavy heat of sorrows in your cycle of birth and death, and brings joy and freedom to your life.
 My dear friend, won’t you try to walk this way? For our world?

 Worry and sorrow cling to our lives, and we want to let them go. How shall we do this?
 Take firm, calm steps. Take courageous steps. Be alert and strong-willed – alert to your burdens of worry and sorrow, strong-willed in your determination to put them down. Ask yourself, “Why should I wish to keep this weight on my shoulders?”
 Be clear that you are indeed carrying the heavy luggage of worry and sorrow, and be compassionate with yourself. You can experience compassion for others only when you are compassionate with yourself. You feel this compassion when you see that you are bound to the frame of worry and sorrow. You understand that worry and sorrow cannot help you solve any of your problems. Instead, they obstruct peace and joy.
 From such awareness, decide to let worry and sorrow fall away. If you want to, you can – like taking off a raincoat and shaking off all the raindrops that are clinging to it.

 As you let go of worry and sorrow, bring a smile to your face. This may be just a beginning of a smile, but keep it on your lips, like the Buddha’s half-smile. Learn to walk as a Buddha walks; to smile as a Buddha smiles. You can do it. Why wait until you become a Buddha? Be a Buddha right now, at this very moment!
 I have spoken of the half-smile and its effectiveness in The Miracle of Mindfulness. This half-smile is the fruit of awareness and joyful peace of mind, and it also nurtures and preserves that awareness and peaceful joy. It is truly miraculous. It not only brings you peace and joy, it also brings peace and joy to people around you. It transforms _ saṃsāra_ into the Pure Land. Don’t forget to maintain your half-smile when practicing walking meditation. It will keep your steps flowing with ease, and give you more awareness and more peace and joy.
 Be aware of your breathing, and this too will nourish each step. Awareness of the breath is a wonderful way to preserve your mindfulness and peace.

 Your half-smile and your peaceful steps are bright and shining pearls. They are beautiful, but they are separate. The breath is the string that brings them together into a necklace, without a single gap between them. Be conscious of your breath and your walking meditation will be truly fruitful.

 Breathing consciously is different from breathing unconsciously. When you breathe mindfully, you know that you are breathing. If you take a long breath, you know that you are taking a long breath; when you take a short breath, you know that you are taking a short breath. When you take a gentle breath, you know that you are taking a gentle breath. You may ask, “How can I pay attention to breathing and walking at the same time?” You can, if you identify the breathing with the steps.You do this by counting, not the breath but the steps. That is, measure the length of your breath by the number of the steps you take during that breath. Count how many steps you take when you breathe out, and how many steps you take when you breathe in. This is the method I began to use about fifteen years ago, and I share it now with you.
 Walk more slowly than you usually do, but not too slowly, while breathing normally. Do not try to control your breathing. Walk along in this way for a few minutes. Then notice how many steps you take as your lungs fill, and how many steps you take as they empty. In this way, your attention includes both breath and steps. You are mindful of both. The link is the counting. Your half-smile brings calmness and delight to your steps and your breath. It helps to maintain your attention and is an object of attention in itself. After a few hours of serious practice, you will find that the four of them – the breath, the counting, the steps and the half-smile – blend together in a marvelous balance of mindfulness. This is equanimity, created by the practice of walking meditation. The four elements of breathing, counting, stepping, and the half-smile become one.

 Let me tell you a little more about the art of counting. If you adjust your pace, your counting becomes easier. Your breath may not be long enough to cover three steps, and may only last for two and a half steps. In that case,you will either have to speed up a little so that your three steps fit into one breath, or you will have to slow down to make it two steps in one breath. Now, maintain this new pace and you count and breathe.
 The exhalation may be longer than the inhalation, especially for new students. After some observation, you will determine the rhythm of your normal breathing in relation to your steps. it could be three steps/three steps (3-3), or two steps/three steps (2-3). In the first instance, the inhalation and the exhalation are equal (3-3). In the second, the inhalation is shorter than the exhalation (2-3). IF you take two steps for the inhalation and three for the exhalation, then remember that 2-3 is your pattern of breathing. Breathing in this way is comfortable for your lungs, and you can walk while breathing like this for a long time without feeling tired.
 When walking uphill or downhill, your breathing may tend to eb irregular. Follow the needs of your lungs at such a time.

 After a few days, try this variation. While walking, add one more step to the exhalation. For example, if your normal breathing is 2-2, practice 2-3 and repeat four or five times, then go back to your normal 2-2. This practice will make you feel healthier, as the longer you exhale, the more your lungs are contracted, and the more air is pushed out of them. In normal breathing, you never completely expel all the air from your lungs; there is always some residual air left at the bottom.When you add one more step to your exhalation, this air will be expelled. Don’t overdo it. Four or five times are enough – more could make you tired. After four or five times breathing this way, let your breath return to normal. Later on, perhaps after five minutes, try repeating the same process. Remember, at this stage, add a step to the exhalation, not the inhalation.
 After practicing like this for a few days, you might then feel like adding one more step to your inhalation. Your lungs seem to be saying to you, “If we could make it 3-3 now instead of 2-3, we would be very happy.” Try this, but only when the message is clear. Then the change will make you feel good. Remember to do it only four or five times, then go back to 2-2. In a few minutes, begin 2-3, and then do 3-3 again.
 In a couple of months, your lungs will be healthier, and your blood will be better filtered. Your old way of breathing will be transformed. For example, from 2-2 it may become 3-3. This would then be normal breathing for you in your walking meditation.

 I have suggested that you walk like a Buddha, taking steps like the Buddha did. Each step leaves the imprint of peace, joy, and innocence on the surface of the earth, and the earth becomes the Pure Land.
 In 1968, I had a chance to visit Linh Thứu Mountain where Śākyamuni Buddha used to live. I could walk by myself on the dirt roads where he once walked; I stood on the land that was once his abode; I sat on a rock he probably sat upon many times. I sat there, watching the scarlet sun going down over the horizon, knowing that he himself had watched the same sun going down many times. I felt that if I were not able to stand, walk, sit and perceive the way he did, I would not be able to carry on his work. The same is true for you as well. If you are not able to stand. walk, sit and see like a Buddha, you cannot carry on his work. You cannot “nurture and glorify the holy seeds, guide future generations, and show gratitude toward the Buddha.”
 It is not by preaching or expounding the sutras (scriptures) that you fulfil the task of awakening others to self-realization; it is rather by the way you walk, the way you stand, the way you sit and the way you see things.

 Walking with ease and with peace of mind on the earth is a wonderful miracle. Some people say that only walking on burning coals or walking on spikes or on water are miracles, but I find that simply walking on the earth is a miracle. Neige Marchand, when translating The Miracle of Mindfulness into French, entitled the book La Miracle, C’est de Marcher sur Terre. I like that title very much.
 Imagine that you an I were two astronauts. We have landed on the moon, and we find that we cannot return to earth because the engine of our ship is broken beyond repair. We will run out of oxygen before the control center on earth can send another ship to rescue us. We know that we have only two more days to live. What would you and I think of, other than going back to our dear green planet and walking side by side, in peace and without worries? Only when confronted with death do we know the precious value of our steps on the green planet.
 Now let’s imagine ourselves as those astronauts who have somehow survived their experience. Let’s celebrate our happiness and our joy at being able to walk on our dear earth again. We manifest this miracle in each of our steps. Lotus flowers bloom as we walk.
 Maintain your practice, aware that your steps are creating miracles. The earth appears before your eyes as something miraculous. With that correct understanding, with that meditative thought, you will achieve blissful thought on this planet earth.
 Stand on one foot, and be aware that it is resting upon the earth; see the great sphere upon which it rests. Set it clearly – how wonderfully round it is. While walking, look down and anticipate the ground where you are about to place your foot, and when you do, mindfully experience your foot, the ground, and the connection between your foot and the ground. Think of your foot as the Seal of an Emperor or an Empress.
 In the meditation hall, while doing kinhin (walking meditation), remember the “Imperial Seal” or “Lotus flowers blooming” or “The earth appears” as themes of your walking meditation.

 Mindfulness and peace are the purpose and practice of walking meditation. They need to be continuous, and so we use breath awareness, stepping, counting, and the half-smile. These four elements bring power to our spirit. They reside in ourselves and reveal the presence of the conscious and all-knowing mind.
 With walking meditation, we find niem and dinh. Niem means “mindfulness,” and dinh means “concentration,” and together they denote a state of mind which is still and focused – where there is no conflict, no dispersion, and one’s consciousness is kept always on the right path.
 It is not necessary that you carry all four elements of breathing, counting, walking and the half-smile, in order to achieve purity and peace. There are times when just walking is enough. But if mindfulness while walking is difficult to sustain, then use one or more of the other elements.
 Anyone can coordinate walking, breathing and counting, but if you focus too much attention on, say, the steps, then your awareness of breathing and counting might get fainter, like a lightbulb when you have the heater on. That is all right, so long as you maintain awareness of your steps.
 You may ask, if I put all my mental power into observing my steps, and lotus flowers blooming under them as I walk, then how can I experience the other miracles that are happening, such as the bamboo along the path, moving in the wind, or the scented rice fields? That is true, the focus of your concentration will get weaker as the field of your concentration gets bigger. Once you have chose the lotus flowers, pay attention only to them. If you choose the earth, then focus on its appearance. As soon as your feet touch the ground, the planet earth emerges underneath them like magic. You will notice both your feet and the green planet at the same time.
 If you wish to enjoy the fragrance of the rice, the shady bamboo trees, the grasses or the clouds, then stop your walking. While maintaining the awareness of your breathing, let yourself enjoy all of them. Bring a half-smile onto your lips and maintain it naturally. After a while, continue your walking again, returning your attention to your steps.

 You can substitute a phrase for the numbers you use in maintaining awareness of your breathing. For example, if the rhythm of your breathing is 3:3 and you are meditating on the lotus flowers under your feet, then you can silently say to yourself, “Lotus flowers bloom; lotus flowers bloom.” If your breathing rhythm is 2:3, then you can say “Lotus flowers; lotus flowers bloom.” If you are observing the earth, you can say “The green planet; the green planet” for 3:3, or “Walking on the green planet; walking on the green planet” for 5:5 or “Walking on the green planet; I’m walking on the green planet” for 5:6.
 Align the words that are appropriate for you to your steps, just as you aligned the numbers with them. For a student of the Pure Land school, the name of the Buddha can be used: “A Mi Ta Buddha; A Mi Ta Buddha” (4:4) or “Na Mo A Mi Ta Buddha; Na Mo A Mi Ta Buddha” (6:6). This method is easy for people whose language in monosyllabic. However, I have seen many westerners apply it to their polysyllabic words. They use sentences like “Walking on the green earth; I walk on the green earth” (6:6). Such phrases will connect the breath to the steps at the same time they cause the earth to rise.

 Step naturally when you practice walking meditation. You don’t need to join your palms in a lotus bud, or put on a solemn face. Choose an empty road in a park, or walk along a river bank. At the meditation center, you can practice anytime. People will know that you are practicing, and will not disturb you by saying hello. If you meet someone on the path, you need only join your hands before your chest and continue your walking practice.
 When I was lining in Sceaux, France, I used to practice walking meditation in the early morning and evening. The neighbor’s dogs would come out and bark at me. When I stayed at the Mt. Tremper Zen Center in Upstate New York, I lef the American Zen students in walking meditation. A dog barked at us there, too, one morning. Dogs in the United States and France are not used to people walking slowly and silently. If you scuff your feet and walk quickly, they will think that is normal and pay no attention. I told the students, “Next year, if I come back here to do walking meditation with you, this dog won’t bar kas we pass by, for he will be used to seeing you practice walking meditation throughout the year, and will be familiar with your way of walking mindfully.” Everyone agreed. I think that our way of walking, standing, sitting, and looking at things definitely influences animals and plants. Because we have killed them and destroyed their life environment, many of them have become extinct. That environment is now harming us in turn. Polluted drinking water and air have begun to take their toll in human health.
 At this time, we have manufactured over 50,000 nuclear weapons, enough to exterminate scores of planets like ours. Yet we continue to manufacture more and more of them, and it seems that we cannot stop. We are like sleepwalkers, not knowing what we are doing or where we are heading. Whether human beings can wake up or not depends on whether we can take conscientious and mindful steps. That is why the future of humans, as well as the future of all life on this earth, depend on your steps.

 The war in Vietnam caused innumerable injuries to the minds and the bodies of Vietnamese people. Many Buddhists lost an arm, and can no longer join their palms together to pray to Buddha or to greet each other. MAny lost a leg and can no longer sit in the lotus or the half-lotus position to meditate, and can no longer practice walking meditation. Last year there were two such people who came to Phuong Van temple to practice during the retreat period. We had to try different ways for them to practice. They sat in chairs placed at the corner of the meditation hall, while the others sat on cushions and pads on the wooden floor.
 I showed them how to practice walking meditation while remaining in their chairs: to choose a person who was actually doing the walking meditation and to follow that person and become one with him or her, following his or her steps n mindfulness. In this way, they could make peaceful and serene steps on the wooden floor. They could make lotus flowers bloom from their footsteps, though they could not walk. Those two students practiced successfully in this way from the start. In the first session, I saw tears in their eyes.
 You have two arms and two legs; you can join your palms into a lotus bud and practice sitting and walking meditation easily and comfortably. Acknowledge your good fortune. Be that meditative walker, practicing for yourself and for your friends who are sitting in chairs and following your steps. Do you realize that you are walking for many of your fellow beings?

 You can practice walking meditation with another person, maintaining silence, although it is easier to concentrate and observe while practice alone. I wake up early every morning to do walking meditation, and I practice again during the day whenever I have five minutes to half an hour free. Walking meditation can bring you peace, awareness and much happiness. Let’s transform every path on this earth to a path for walking meditation. If you do not practice walking meditation, you do not benefit, I do not benefit, and the lives of all beings do not benefit.
 At first, when walking slowly, you might feel unbalanced, like a baby when it first learns to walk. Follow your breathing, dwell mindfully on your steps, and you will soon find your balance. Notice the cow or the tiger as it walks slowly. The cow takes very neat and dignified steps. The tiger moves gently and gracefully. Practice walking meditation regularly and you will find that your steps too can become neat, dignified and graceful.

 The open air is likely to be cool and clean in the early morning or late evening. No source of energy is more nourishing than pure air. You take in that energy and feel stronger in your body and mind while you practice walking meditation. When you practice regularly, your life will gradually be transformed. Your movement will become easygoing, not precipitous, and you will be more aware of what you are doing. In your social relationships, and in making decisions, you will find yourself acting calmly and incisively, with better insight and more compassion. All beings, from the near to the far, large and small – from the moon and the stars to the leaves and the caterpillars – will become peaceful as you take your steps.

 Before ending, I would like to confide some heartfelt thoughts. I said that this samsaric world has all the wonders of the Pure Land. Now I must tell you that this samsaric world is better than the Pure Land, because of the presence of suffering. If I hesitate about entering the Pure Land, it is not just because it has no star-fruit and lemon trees, but also because there is no suffering.
 The first perception of a Buddhist is the presence of suffering. If you do not acknowledge this suffering as the first of the Four Noble Truths, then you cannot truly be a Buddhist. Awareness of suffering generates compassion, and compassion is the will to practice the Way. If you do not see this, if you do not understand this, then your love is not yet love. It could be passion, excitement or desire.
 When I returned to Europe after trying to help the boat people, I felt the western life was not life. It seemed strange to me. After seeing refugees who had suffered so much to survive at sea, I landed at the airport in Paris, and driving home I passed cities and supermarkets with colorful lights. It was like walking in a dream. How could there be such a disparity? Here people were seeking pleasure with liquor and neon lights. There, people on the sea were pursued, robbed, raped and killed. Aware of suffering, I rebelled against the superficial way of life.
 In the Buddha Land, the Amitabha Buddha and all the Bodhisattvas constantly remind us of the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Noble Path, but how can Dharma words replace the direct experience of suffering? During the Vietnam war, western people could watch scenes of war on their television screens. I wonder how much they could understand from these images. I too have seen those pictures, and I do not think they conveyed the real suffering.

 I think our samsaric world is the best training ground for our practice. Mahayana teachers sometimes identify the Dharma Treasure with the Good and the Beautiful. When they say “Violet bamboo and yellow flowers are none other than the Dharma Treasure / White Clouds and the clear moon manifest the complete truth,” then half of our essential nature is obscured. The true face of our essential nature is also the swamp and muddy waters of gree, hatred and ignorance. Truth is also suffering and the hurt we human beings inflict on each other. In the Pure Land, the song of celestial birds becomes the voice of the Dharma. On earth, too, the singing of birds can reveal our essential nature.
 An old teacher said, “From the beginning, all things are neither born nor destroyed,” and he offered a poem as a comment: “When Spring comes, a thousand flowers celebrate / The golden bird sings in the green willow tree.” For us, the singing of birds expresses joy, beauty, and purity, evoking vitality in us and love of life. But when we look more deeply, we can understand that the birdsong also bears a trace of suffering. One day, while sitting quietly in the forest, I suddenly trembled when I heard the call of a bird. I saw clearly that insects hiding under leaves or in the hollow of a tree trembled just as I did. The call of birds can frighten worms and insects, just as humans become afraid when they hear the tiger roar. The song that inspires beauty can also inspire fear and suffering.

 The practice of walking meditation opens your eyes to wonders in the universe. It turns samsara into the Pure Land. It lets sorrow and worry fall away, and brings peace. But walking meditation also helps us to see pain, anguish, and suffering. When we are aware we can see clearly what is happening in life. I often tell meditation students, “If you can’t see what is happening in front of you and around you, how can you understand your true nature?” It is not by closing your eyes that you see your own nature. On the contrary, you must open your eyes wide and wake up to the real situation in the world to see completely your whole Dharma Treasure, your whole Dharma Body. The bombs, the hunger, the pursuit of wealth and power – these are not separate from your nature.
 Scented paths across the rice fields, shady bamboo-lined dirt roads, parks covered with dark-colored dry leaves – these are your paths for walking meditation; please enjoy them. They should not lead you to forgetfulness, but should bring your the necessary mindfulness so that you can see the real dramas of the world. Then every path, every street – from the back alleys of Beirut to the roads of Vietnam where mines still explode and take the loves of children and farmers – every path in the world is your walking meditation path. Once you are awake, you will not hesitate to enter those paths.
 You will suffer, but your pain will not come from your own worries and fears. You will suffer because of your kinship with all beings, because you have the compassion of an awakened being, a Bodhisattva.
 Then all your companions on the path you take will be invincible Bodhisattvas.

Our mindful breath
creates peace.

Our mindful steps
create joy.

Slow walking meditation is a special practice. Because we move so slowly, we can give great attention to our smallest actions. When we do this, we cultivate the power of concentration. Over time, we are able to bring the solidity and ease that we enjoy in our seated meditation, and carry it in mindful footsteps into the day.

To practice slow walking, we begin by standing. Standing still is like our seated meditation. We breathe in and out, aware that we are breathing in and out. This helps our minds to calm and our body to be relaxed. When we walk, we will take one step with the in-breath and the out-breath. When we are truly present, we lift and place one foot forward to rest on our Mother the Earth. We do this with the in-breath. We keep our weight and stability in the back foot, feeling the entire surface of the forward foot in contact with the planet.

With the out-breath, we gently shift our weight forward into the front foot, until we are solidly residing on that foot. We can feel the stability of the earth beneath us, and the stability of our bodies on the earth. As the out-breath comes to completion, ee relax into that stability. As our breath repeats its circles, we repeat our steps. With repetition, we become comfortable with this way of moving, and we find both peace and relaxation. When we notice this peace and relaxation alive in us, we smile.

When we are practicing something new, there can be some effort. Our bodies are learning new actions, and our minds are struggling to understand what, why, where, when and how to practice it. It is easy to know if you are trying a little too hard. Are you smiling? If a half-smile is not present, then you are not present.

When you notice the smile isn’t present, and the ease hasn’t quite arrived yet, then stop. Come back to stillness, with your feet next to each other. Take a mindful breath. Feel the support of the earth. Relax the muscles of your face, and allow the half-smile to appear. Then, when you feel you are ready, begin slow walking again.

There is nowhere on the planet to be going. If there is any destination, it is simply to be present right here, and right now. Since you are already there, the arrival takes no effort at all. Walk with attention, but without struggle. Walk with your companions, whether they are physically next to you, or making mindful steps pn the other side of the globe. Enjoy your steps. Each one of them is a peaceful, mindful step for all beings.

 When we look deeply at our breath, we see that our

 Walking mindfully can be a nourishing practice: we feel our footsteps supported by our Mother the Earth, and a smile of ease and refreshment is born on our lips. When we are at ease