When we enter a period of intensive retreat,
Part of the aim is to try to develop as much continuity of this mindfulness and all these other supportive qualities of attention include energy,
Investigation,
Calm,
Concentration,
Equanimity,
Tenderness,
Patience.
These various qualities that we try to bring to bear on whatever is happening in the present moment experience,
In the heart-mind,
In the body,
In the various body-based senses.
And so we have periods of stillness in the seated practice where we can cultivate these qualities in a more intensive way.
But we also have a practice of formal walking meditation as a middle ground between the stillness of the seated posture and the fluidity of our daily activities or everyday life.
And so really the walking practice is very much the same practice and our orientation toward it is very similar.
But it has its own qualities,
Mostly because we are intentionally moving the body through space.
And so that brings up a whole other range of experiences in the body and in the mind and in the way they interact.
Of course,
As we're standing and walking,
The eyes are also open,
Which brings in that other level and range of experiences of seeing and the changes as we move through space in the visual field.
But really the orientation is still the same.
We're trying to be as mindful,
As concentrated,
As collected,
As kind,
And genuinely interested in what's happening internally moment by moment as experiences arise and pass based on conditions.
We will often pick one part of the experience to be our primary anchor,
The primary object of our attention,
Understanding that of course the mind will wander and will move towards other objects.
And we can be equally aware and interested in those,
But that we can bring the attention back to this primary anchor as a way of developing these qualities in a container,
A smaller field of attention from which they grow.
So if you are seated,
The invitation is always going to be to slowly,
Gently,
Carefully,
Mindfully come to standing,
Paying as much attention we can to the changing physical experience of that throughout the body,
The range of awareness we have of those changes.
I'm starting to notice the variety of decisions,
Of adjustments,
Of manipulations that the mind impels in the body so that we stand safely.
And that just in this process of coming to stand,
There are millions of moments of mind and body interacting.
We see some of them try to appreciate their subtlety and complexity,
The mystery of this powerful dynamic.
And then just coming to stand for a few moments on both feet.
If we cannot stand,
We're confined to a chair or to the ground,
I'll offer some similar instructions.
The walking practice is not primarily about walking,
But rather about this relationship between the mind and the body,
Which can be explored in any physical gesture.
And so in standing,
We can feel the sense of pressure on the feet.
Whether there's hardness or tingling,
Whether it's warm or cool,
Places more or less pressure.
And start to allow the weight of the body to move into,
Let's say the left side of the body.
So the left leg and foot bearing the majority of the weight.
So right there,
We can see there's a mental intention to shift the body in a certain way.
The body responds.
And there is a change in the physical experience in one leg versus the other.
Not a right or wrong way to do it,
But simply observing this dynamic,
The increasing sensation in one leg and foot,
Perhaps the decreasing in the other.
But then with our right leg and foot,
Slowly lifting,
Moving and placing that foot in front of us.
Trying our best to keep the attention concurrent with all the changing sensations in that leg and foot.
And when it lands in front of us,
Letting the weight shift onto that right leg and foot.
Allowing the weight to really settle in.
Noticing,
Receiving those changing sensations of pressure,
Hardness.
And then slowly lifting the left foot and leg and moving and placing it forward so that our feet are side by side.
This is called walking.
And we are amazed at how often we take it for granted.
Don't explore it,
Aren't interested.
And yet,
It provides everything we need to understand more profoundly the nature of the relationship between mind and body.
Wanting of not wanting.
All the important things in our practice life.
And so for a period of walking practice,
We'll simply do this.
Lifting,
Moving,
Placing.
Each foot in front of us,
And then the next,
And then the next.
Not trying to get anywhere.
Simply trying our best to keep the attention concurrent with this back and forth between the mental intention to move,
The physical gesture,
And the awareness of that.
There's this loop between mind and body.
And so we have a walking path of maybe 20 or 30 paces.
We walk to the end of it and stop.
Take our time to reground if the attention is wandered.
Slowly turning and walking back across the same 20 or 30 steps.
Often we do recommend walking slowly so that our mindfulness has some ability to keep up with the sensations as they're unfolding.
The faster we move,
The harder it is,
The more mindless we can often become.
So the encouragement is to do this quite slowly.
Though there might be times where a little more of a normal walking pace gathers the attention more concretely.
Where we don't have the energy to break things down so slowly and need to walk at a more natural pace.
To always feel that possibility,
The room to experiment.
And over time include other sense experiences.
Sometimes the narrow focus of the attention just on the bottoms of the feet or the legs can feel too confining.
And so as we walk back and forth between two points,
We might open up to the sensations of the entire body moving through space.
Maybe for one pass along our path,
We open up to the receptivity of seeing.
Not just of looking at everything,
But the awareness that seeing is happening.
Maybe we open up to the realm of sound.
Maybe we bring the attention back to the more manageable field of the feet and legs.
The object of the attention is not as important as the observation,
The clear comprehension,
The understanding of the object,
Of its nature,
Of what compels the mind to move from one to another.
So we try our best to observe everything to include all of the senses in our walking practice,
Just as in our seated practice.
But that we recognize that narrowing the field of attention to one part of it can help us build that strength and sense of capacity,
Concentration.
We see so much is happening just in the feet,
Just in the legs,
The body moving.
It's enough to keep us interested,
To see what we can,
To start to see what we can't,
To keep us more and more deeply engaged with the phenomena of our lives.
