Zen and the Art of Walking

How do you prepare for the day? Lately I've tried walking meditation, and I find it incredibly difficult and only mildly rewarding. How does it work? The basic idea is to empty one’s mind of all the complicated, difficult, exciting, stressful details of the coming day and keep it that way for as long as physically (mentally?) possible. I’ve found my limit to be approximately 3 seconds. Walking makes it easier, but also more difficult. The added stimulus makes it easier to remain focused on the external world, rather than internal cogitation, but at the same time the added stimulus provides more things to think about which turns the eye inward. And yet I persevere. Why? Well I find that when it does work, I can actually feel my brain loosening up and relaxing, kind of like a knot that has loosened and come apart a little. It’s a very pleasant sensation. Even after I inevitably surrender and begin puzzling and deliberating, the feeling stays with me for a while. I feel, it’s true… refreshed.

Here, check it out… 

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