Mindfulness Practices

Indoor Walking Meditation

Kinh Hanh literally means slow walking in Vietnamese. It is the form of walking meditation conducted in the meditation room. We refer to it as Kinh Hanh to distinguish it from Outdoor Walking Meditation. Slow walking is a wonderful meditation which is central to our mindfulness practice.

Usually slow walking is integrated with sitting meditation practice in the meditation room. Typically it is conducted between two sessions of sitting meditation (e.g. a period of silent sitting and a guided meditation). This gives a natural break between sessions and also allows us to refresh our body and wake up our legs. It offers us the experience of the Community moving in mindful unity together in the meditation room.

When we practice slow walking our breath is coordinated with our steps. When we hear the bell to start we take an in-breath and make one step with the left foot. On the out-breath we take another step with the right foot. Then we begin the cycle again, the left leg always co-coordinated with our in-breath and the right leg always coordinated with our out-breath. Throughout we are continually aware of the body, holding our palms in front of us as a lotus and relaxing the muscles of the mouth in a gentle smile: “Breathing in, I am aware that I am breathing in; breathing out, I smile.”

Next page (Walking meditation continued)

Watching the Breath
Walking meditation
Washing dishes
Eating a tangerine