Why Breath Walking is 2x Easier than Sitting Meditation?

"Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet" - Thich Nhat Hanh

If you have trouble sitting down to meditate, breath walking is for you.

No squirming, shifting legs or trying to ignore that itch in your back. 

Just walk, breathe, count and repeat a mantra.

It is a kinesthetic meditation that allows you to regain your calm through movement. For some people this may sound counterintuitive, but for people who learn best by involving their bodies, this is the most natural way to meditate.

Movement allows them to bring their focus inward, tune out the external distractions and quiet the mind.

Moreover, by focusing on the breath, you practice mindfulness that allows you to welcome the present moment without judging it. Centering yourself in the now gives you a 'time-out' from your busy lifestyle and prevents the stress spiral.         

Walk this way

With no prep time and zero equipment, except for a pair of walking shoes if you choose not to go barefoot, this meditation is as easy as it gets.

• Walk in small steps, about 80% of your normal stride length. Focus should be on breathing not on trying to maintain balance due to an unusually short stride 
• Take long breaths. Inhale for two steps then exhale for two steps. Get into a rhythm
• Match the length of your breathing with the speed of your walking. If taking three or four steps on every breath instead of two works better for you, then follow that
• Once the breathing flows naturally and is in lock-step with your pace of walking, start tapping your fingers
• Begin with touching the index finger to your thumb on an inhale, followed by your middle finger to your thumb on the next inhale and so on until you finish with the pinky
• When breathing, walking and tapping are in a comfortable rhythm, introduce a mantra
• Chanting the mantra or repeating it mentally will deepen your focus and center you even more. Our mind can only hold one thought at a time, so when you say your mantra, there is no room left for any other thought to trouble you
• Use a mantra like sa-ta-na-ma (derived from SatNam which means True Divine Nature). Each syllable is a metaphor for birth, life, death and rebirth and combining it with tapping creates powerful mudras that bestow the following benefits:

           - index finger + thumb = wisdom

           - middle finger + thumb = focus

           - ring finger + thumb = energy

           - little finger + thumb = connectedness

You could also use your own unique beej mantra instead of sa-ta-na-ma.

Breath walking may be a little difficult in the beginning due to distractions in your surroundings, but you will get better at ignoring them and consciously focusing your attention inward over time.

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