Walking meditation guide

[Metaphor]

@irene

Is there any indication in EBT or the commentaries about the speed you should walk?

Some of this has been discussed in a previous thread:

Walking versus Sitting Meditation

I seem to have an easier time concentrating when I am doing sitting meditation versus when I am walking. I wonder if perhaps it is because I do walking meditation first. It takes some time for my mind to properly concentrate so that by the time I have finished walking and commence sitting I have better concentration. Or might there be other reasons why I concentrate better during sitting meditation than walking? Any thoughts on why I am experiencing this? Does anyone have any suggestions?

[karl_lew]

@irene

Concerning the swinging of arms

Hands clasped one enters seclusion. Hands free one partakes in the world. I did not believe this until I tried it a few months ago. I walk for an hour twice a day. Walking at a normal pace on paved streets barefoot is insanity. Your feet will get bloody and injured. My monk friend in Thailand laughed at me and said, “Karl, walk gently” After many bandaids and much limping, I am now convinced that gently works better. Slow and gentle. Mindful. Deliberate.

[karl_lew]

I realized today that by simply wearing a bright yellow work vest like any other official road worker, I present an image of “belongs here and is actively doing something with useful intent”. This provides immediate seclusion to me. I now wear the vest during the day as well for this reason. Society is happy and ignores me. I am happy and ignore it.

@irene I tried walking at normal speed yesterday and my feet got cut up. All those little freely swinging motions that we normally associate with walking caused my feet to shift ever so slightly and the skin broke easily after an hour. Walking slowly and mindfully this does not happen. If your feet do get cut up, try liquid bandage–it lasts longer than band-aids and does not litter the road.

[frankk]

There’s good health benefits to walking barefoot also, as described in the book “earthing”
https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=DtQVwPcBrr4C&source=productsearch&utm_source=HA_Desktop_US&utm_medium=SEM&utm_campaign=PLA&pcampaignid=MKTAD0930BO1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIvt_zmbqh3gIVjMJkCh3QJQwwEAQYASABEgJPSPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

If you do enough barefoot walking, and the circulation of blood/qi improves, the feet get tougher and resilient to where you can walk and jog on gravel and not feel any discomfort and getting feet scuffed up and bloody. This is not about skin getting thicker.

I found that walking was not enough to improve certain health problems, doing slow jogging 30-60 min a day made a big difference compared to walking (it’s as gentle on your joints as walking if you do it right), i’ll post about it another time.