Thich Nhat Hanh: Walking
“People say that walking on water is a miracle, but to me, walking peacefully on the earth is the real miracle. The Earth is a miracle, each step is a miracle. Taking steps on our beautiful planet can bring real happiness.”—Thich Nhat Hanh, The Long Road Turns To Joy, a Guide to Walking Meditation.
For many years, I would walk around the block in my neighborhood for twenty minutes before going to work at the hospital. This seems to quiet the committee meeting in my head. Putting my feet on the earth, even the pavement of the road, reconnected my head to my body as I become “grounded.”
When I am outside, I realize there is a world greater than the one I live in. There is a power greater than myself.
I have trouble meditating by simply sitting, but some movement, such as walking, can lead me into that meditative journey. The Vietnamese Buddhist, Thich Nhat Hanh, is one of the most well-known meditative walkers. This pocket-sized book contains simple mindfulness exercises to practice as we walk.
He introduces us to several methods of following and listening to our breath as we walk. He teaches us to be aware of the ground, our feet touching it, and our breath.
My pattern became breathing in on the right foot and breathing out on the left. This was like walking the labyrinth and paying close attention to the path. In mindful walking, as I stay with my breath, no more rooms are available for that committee to meet in my head.
Thich Nhat Hanh compares walking to eating, nourishing our bodies with each step. With each step, we massage the Earth. When the baby Buddha was born, he took seven steps, and a Lotus flower blossomed under each step.
Thich Nhat Hanh suggests we imagine a flower blossoming with each step.
We can also practice mindful walking anywhere, between meetings, in hospitals, at airports, and walking to our car. The Buddhist monk also offers several poems to recite while walking: “I have arrived, I am home, in the here, in the now. I am solid. I am free. In the ultimate, I dwell.”
Labyrinth at Murfee home