The practice Sharon provides for LovingKindness While Walking is a very simple instruction. Simply walk as you would for a walking meditation but instead of focusing on the movement of our steps and the breath, we focus on repeating phrases of LovingKindness to ourselves.
May I Be Peaceful. May I Be Happy. May I Be Safe.
As we walk, part of our attention will fall on our thoughts and part will fall on our surroundings. We can start by repeating the LovingKindness phrases for ourselves. As we go along, thoughts of other people may arise, perhaps someone we love or someone we have conflict with. When they do, offer them the phrases altered for them, then return to yourself.
May You Be Peaceful. May You Be Happy. May You Be Safe.May I Be Peaceful. May I Be Happy. May I Be Safe.
Practice in this way as long as you like or for the duration of your walk. That's it!
Last weekend, when I performed this practice, I was out of town visiting friends. As I've mentioned, this trip provided a plethora of opportunity for various LovingKindness practice, much insight and some real healing and deepening of my understanding of this practice.
One such example was when I had the opportunity to walk with one of my old friends whom I had great difficulty with. During the walk, we talked a lot. When we weren't talking, I used the quiet to mentally offer us each the phrases above. Then, when conversation came, I found myself warmed to the task and able to talk openly about our past, our present, our families and so on with an open heart and warmth. It was really great for both of us. I highly recommend this practice. It's good for you inside and out, physically and mentally!
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