Walking Meditation

Walking Meditation Srinivasan Nenmeli_K

It is not a miracle to walk on water or fly in the air. It is a miracle to walk on earth. A buddhist saying.

Walking is the best exercise--every fitness expert agrees on this.There are many men with long life who swear that their long healthy life is due to long walks they take.When Dr

Paul Dudley

White, afamous cardiac physician was sent from the USA to treat Mao Tse dong,then chairman of PRC China after Mao's heart attack, Dr White suggested to Mao that he should walk for 2 hours a day every day. Walking does not require any equipment or training..simplicity does that.You can walk throughout the year. Only precaution is that you dont walk in full stomach or in empty stomach.. Walking is an aerobic exercise;it increases the heart rate and pulse rate,like the tread mill,but in a gentle way.You want to keep your tummy reduced,waist reduced,take to long,brisk walks.

Meditation is the means to focus your mind on sublime,eternal

things.Every one knows that meditation reduces stress,tension and mental confusion.Some forms of meditation had been investigated to show that they reduce your blood pressure and other physical parameters significantly, with lot of instruments.

There are several methods of meditation drawn from different religions;the ones derived form the Hindu or Buddhist traditions are well known and widely practised.For a simple introduction, you can read my book: Fruitful Meditation [N K Srinivasan Pustak Mahal,new delhi 2004]You can find other references in that book for further study. Why not combine "walking" and Meditation"..mind you I am not suggesting sleep walking state or somnambulism.!This is just the opposite....Walk with full,100% awarewness or 'mindfulness'. With each step forward, lifting the leg and placing it on earth-gently or like a mmilitary soldier,do it with full thought on the steps you are taking.!!

Initially you can practise this in your garden or front porch...keep the unruly thoughts away...you can come back to them later. To this practise, you can add two more practices; 1 WATCH YOUR BREATH: Dont control the flow, but watch your

breath;the air going through the nostrils and coming out...each breath is a moment of your life.--A precious action---indeed a miracle.Follow the breath quietly,gently while walking..do not force your breath..let it be natural and gentle...Do not count the breath. 2 CHANT A MANTRA:

If you are already using a mantra ,chant with

each step or with two steps.The mantra can be a short simple one: Om sri ram, Om Ganeshaya Namah; Om nama shivaya...Om sai Ram...and so on. Focus on the mantra as you lift a foot and when you place a foot..as simple as that.! If you are walking one mile,that is 5280 feet, you will be placing nearly 5280 foot-falls...well, you will be chanting nearly 5000 times your mantra.If you walk slowly, you

complete 3 or more

miles in an hour..this means that in about 20 minutes, you would have chanted your mantra 5000 times.In a month, you would have completed 150,000 chantings...what an easy way.! After walking meditation,you will feel not only fresh and rejunevated, you will feel extremely calm.This means that you are not talking to your partner during walking.! How long you should practise this?..begin with ten minutes,increase to one hour.I suppose you walk quietly in a garden or calm road, undisturbed by traffic,human or machine.

Please send your comments/feedback to my email: nksrinivasan at hotmail dot com. ----------xxxxxxxxxxx----------------