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.

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