How to Get Unstuck #5
Practice A Walking Meditation As You Go Through Your Day
Walking meditation is a way to return to your breath and take a few moments to practice settling yourself down.
Getting unstuck starts with zeroing in on your body, your breathing, and checking in with where you are.
Thich Nhat Hanh, the Vietnamese Monk and meditation teacher, is a man who has taught so many people in the world how to have peace in every step. He teaches many different ways to do this, but this is one of my favorites:
As you walk, you match your inhale breath to the words In the here, in the here and then you exhale to the words In the now, in the now.
As this Buddhist monk and teacher says, the words are different, but they have the same meaning: I am aware of breathing. I am in the now. I have arrived. I am home. I know where I am.
Last spring, I co-led a silent retreat that used Thich Nhat Hahn’s writings and exercises as the content to our liturgies.
I made prayer cards using Thich Nhat Hanh’s meditations meditations for each liturgy.
You could write down these words. Put them in your pocket to remind you that any time you want to practice getting unstuck, a very good place to start is with your breath.
Why not just try?
See what you notice and check back in for Step Six.
