The Art of Walking Meditation

There is rarely a perfect time to find complete isolation for meditation in a busy life. If you’re waiting for solitude and the right kind of light or weather, then chances of forming a habit are diminished due to friction points. Ideal circumstances may never come.

Good news: meditation comes in many forms — standing, lying down, and of course, the usual fan favorite, sitting. Maybe you’re not a fan of being still? Perhaps you’re not in love with the zafu, your hip flexors are tight, and you just want to move. If even the thought of sitting in lotus in quiet makes you twitch, you should try walking meditation.

Here are some tips to consider if you don’t want to sit and meditate:

Find little blips of time throughout your day. I complete a standing/walking meditation at moments where I am forced to pause, like while at the grocery store’s long line. Take these small openings of time for awareness building. Waiting becomes a less annoying preoccupation and instead becomes an opportunity.

The slower the movement, the better. The concepts remain the same. You’re paying attention to each activity in each step.

In Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche’s memoir In Love with the World: A Monk’s Journey Through the Bardos of Living and Dying, he describes the basic mindful cadence of walking meditation as lifting…