Thich Nhat Hanh Speaks about Walking Meditation
Here is a lovely video of Thich Nhat Hanh, talking about his walking mediation.
I readily admit to thinking about it but not slowing down enough while walking my dogs.
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May 27, 2008
May 21, 2008
Walking the Dogs
Hi there! So nice of you to drop by again. It’s spring and I was just walking my dogs.
Do you have dogs to walk? If not, how do you take little mental health breaks during your day?
Sometimes when we walk, I meet a neighbor. Other times, I just look at what comes to my eyes and think of Thich Nhat Hahn’s walking meditation.
Today, I looked at the yellow and pink snapdragons by my front door and noticed how relaxing it is just to pause and really examine the details of a flower. I remember feeling that way on a vacation at The Mauian, a hideaway in Maui, when a gecko walked up the glass walls of a phone booth as I was inside. You can lose your worries watching sticky little footpads inching up.
Of course, my eyes were open looking at the gecko and at the same time I had a feeling of relaxation.
Some people close their eyes when they try to relax. What do you do? Closing the eyes may be an unconscious association with a certain amount of tension in the body and eyes being open, and relaxation with closing the eyes for sleeping or meditating. I realized meditation is also possible with eyes open, as with looking closely at flowers.
Once in a while during my Alexander training, the Director would put a flower in the middle of the floor. We’d all sit in a circle and look at it. The instructions were to just notice the flower.
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