Mindful walking and healing – Phap Tuyen

Buddhism today is not only encapsulated in the monastery environment but also brings practical methods to be applied in everyday life. First of all, its teaching plays a role in contributing to world peace. To apply meditation into our daily life is to be aware of what’s happening around us and, in the world. There are many aspects of our life that need our attention, such as our mind and our body, especially as we’re advancing in age. Mindful walking (MW) is a living practice of Buddhism. So, to what extent does mindful walking help our daily life?

MW can bring peace to ourselves and society.Smith (2018) recounts the difficulties for foot pilgrimage to the land of The Camino de Santiago; it’s the 800km stretch with lots of people from different regions, different languages and walking ways. To accommodate this difference, adventure author Francis Tapon suggested that by becoming attentive to the walk and the surroundings, a person can discover the similar grounds that the pilgrims have in common, rather than feeling divided by the language differences. In which ways could we proceed to encourage the mindful walk on the pilgrimage of the Camino so that it would bring about serenity, comprehension, and regard? In all, it appears that the most important thing is all about placing the initial step (Smith, 2018). As Lao-Tsu said that a journey of thousand miles bigins with a single step. The author spoke of Thich Nhat Hanh’s life in conjunction to the practice of mindful walking and how the two are analogous to each other (Smith, 2018). Thich Nhat Hanh shared that the way we walk on the earth implies our certain state of mind. For instance, if one has stress or fear, the steps one made would expose that. He reminded us that the world contains many wonders such as the magnificent plants, and the soft breeze that carried the smell of flowers. Nevertheless, one would not be able to enjoy all this if one is preoccupied with life’s burden. We learned to walk when we were toddlers, but as an adult we can start to relearn again and we do it with a positive attitude and with a snail’s pace. The art of walking mindfully can help one come back to the here and now, and with that, our heart would be fulfilled (Hanh, 2011).

To face anger is a great challenge for each of us. Mindfulness is a conscious energy; it’s a state of awareness of what is happening inside and outside the body. Mindfulness practice includes meditation, sitting meditation, eating meditation, working meditation, et cetera. It acts as mother taking care of the ailing baby with her love and attentiveness. With the mother’s tender caring energy, the child would be soothed. We can deal with our troubled state of mind in a similar method. We can employ the method of MW to come back to our inhalations and exhalations, focusing on our steps imprinted on the ground and embracing our emotions. Eventually, our emotions would fade away and we become more solid. Next, we look deeply into the source of our fury to see if it stemmed from our inadequate comprehension about who we are, and from the unfavorable conditions that cause the emotional upset. It’s entrenched in the ego, greed, and the distracted, obscured mind. When we’re able to see that the origin of anger comes from our own beings and our habits of reacting to events, then we can see the way out. Our external conditions like our surroundings and other human beings are not the primary causes (Hanh, 2008). When one is not yet stilled, then the best thing to do is to savor the conscious inhalations and exhalations, the promenade, and the wonder of the surrounding life. In time, the emotional turmoil would phase down and one can be stable enough to deal with it plainly and find ways to metamorphose it. 

Heart disease is one of the dangerous conditions for life.Son (2018), Kabat (1991), and Dermazo (2014), highlighted the effects of mindful walking in cardiovascular therapy. A concrete example of heart treatment is the story of John, who is forty-four years old with two children. He’s also is a businessman who buys and sells securities. He was sent to the stress clinic to deal with his idiopathic cardiomyopathy. Two years ago, his doctor told him that he has fallen into the abysmal low mood with self-inflicted conducts. After a period of daily mindful walking in 3 months, the cardiologist reported to him the good news of his heart returning to its normal size with the heart rate under 70. John is aware in order to improve; he would need to focus in all the facets of his daily living and become attentive to them. 

            Stress is one of the common symptoms of today’s times. According to Edwards (2018), Kabat (1991) and Poletti (2019), stress is significantly reduced after a period of mindful walking and mindful practice. The program of assisting patients in the initial stage of metastatic cancer using mindfulness is called ‘Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction”. In a research that advances the systematic integration, or mixed-method study, researchers conducted gatherings that involved contemplative practices of sitting, aware of each part of the body, easy yoga movements and marches, plus an Aikido workout that are suitable for people with some disabilities. The instructor gives the members involved a CD with various techniques to do at their lodgings with a minimum of 30 minutes exercise a day and a journal to write down their experiences. Thereafter, the person in charge of the clinical trials examined the journals for thoroughness (Poletti, 2019). A concrete example of stress treatment; In the program of reducing stress, there was a young lady who was so agitated that she had to walk and forth many times and repeatedly hit on the walls or meddle with the phone wire as she conversed with us. Despite of her radical nervous problem, she knew deep inside that to follow that meditative path is the way out for her if she could figure out how to proceed. Soon, she began to employ the practice of MW in order to deal with her insanity and to ground herself in turmoil times. Over the course of several years, she began to try other methods too. But in the end, she always turned to the practice of MW as a way to deal with her anxieties. Thus, this practice is as effective as other practices (Kabat, 1991). 

            Depression will bring us lifeless moods. Mental health problems like depression could bring about a huge health load on society. Several factors constitute the mindfulness-based stress reduction (MSBR): MW and sitting, yoga exercise, and paying attention to parts of the body. Researchers have shown that there are enough proofs to say that bodily movements and contemplative practice brought about positive mood changes and can be used as operative tools to weaken the traces of mental problems (Edwards, 2018; Son, 2018). Instead of suffering and grieving over symptoms of depression, Martin (2009) suggested the method of enjoying the sensation of warmth from the sunlight shining behind us or from the warm source of light radiating on our backs. Sometimes we can get caught in our depression and lose sense of our emotions due to the hustle of life and of our lack of attentiveness. Depression is a wake-up signal for one to return to himself, to his own physical being so that he can find out what is lacking.

            With the above benefits, meditation and MW also helps to cure lower back pain (Ardebil, 2015); cure type 2 diabetes (Gainey, 2016); and cure Parkinson’s disease (PD) of the elderly. Those who are treated for Parkinson’s disease are given dopamine-affiliated medicines to regulate problems with movements, but it can cause side effects such as delusion and inability to sleep. In the systemic reviews on how mindful practices affect health by Grossman et al., (as cited by Son, 2018), he discovered that mindfulness was an essential element in healing for patients with cancer, psychiatric, cardiovascular, and chronic illnesses. The similar result was found in Korea, where mindful practices was found to be effective in treating patients with illnesses such as depression, irritable bowel syndrome, breast cancer, diabetes, anxiety disorders, and drug abuse. It seemed to help in boosting the emotional and psychological states and regaining memory (Son, 2018). 

At any particular time in health clinics, we know that some individuals might not be able to take steps by themselves due to their wounds or sickness. These individuals would view the ability to walk as something of a wonder. Nevertheless, those who are able to walk on their own might not value the importance of it (Kabat, 1991). To clarify this further, Hanh (2011) believed that the true wonder is not about the ability to tread on water, but to be able to take tranquil steps on the earth, since the earth is also a wonder of life. If one is able to realize that, then the act of walking can offer true bliss. Walking in such a way that one can be attentive to his foot touching the earth and mindful inhalations and exhalations. 

            It is essential to master the MW method to get the practical benefits as above. MW is one of the contemplative practices that can offer enjoyment and tranquility as a result. In order to do so, one must learn to bring ease and awareness to one’s steps. Take the time to walk and feel comfortable with oneself. Letting go of all the unhappiness and anxieties. When one places a step on the ground, be aware of the beautiful planet earth that it is touching and feel like you’re a king or a queen imprinting an emblem on it (Hanh, 2020).

            Finally, the material life and spiritual life can always go together and are inseparable like two sides of one hand. If our spirit is well cared for, it will make our life more balanced; It’s more productive to enact with a positive attitude than to use violent means (Study, 2020). Thich Nhat Hanh said that one can touch the true tranquility and joy right in the here and now instead of searching for them in other places. When one can stop searching, then he or she can truly feel at ease (Hanh, 2011). Mindfulness practice, as well as mindful walking, have contributed a lot to the healing of neurological disorders, heart disease, stress, Parkinson’s disease, depression, and to the everyday’s mental states such as low mood, anger, etc. Anyone can practice MW and not be afraid of having side effects as one would using drugs. MW will bring good health and balance to our lives.

References

Ardebil, M., & Banth, S. (2015). Effectiveness of mindfulness meditation on pain and quality of life of patients with chronic low back pain. International Journal of Yoga.

Demarzo, M. M., Montero-Marin, J., Stein, P. K., Cebolla, A., Provinciale, J. G., & García-Campayo, J. (2014). Mindfulness may both moderate and mediate the effect of physical fitness on cardiovascular responses to stress: A speculative hypothesis. Frontiers in Physiology, 5.

Edwards, M. K., & Loprinzi, P. D. (2018). Experimental effects of brief, single bouts of walking and meditation on mood profile in young adults. Health Promotion Perspectives, 8(3), 171–178. https://doi.org/10.15171/hpp.2018.23

Gainey A, Himathongkam T, Tanaka H, & Suksom D. (2016). Effects of Buddhist walking meditation on glycemic control and vascular function in patients with type 2 diabetes. Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 26, 92–97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctim.2016.03.009

Hanh, T. N. (2011). The long road turns to joy: A guide to walking meditation. Parallax Press.

Hanh, T. N. (2008). Transformation and healing: Sutra on the four establishments of mindfulness. Parallax Press.

Kabat-Zinn, J., & University of Massachusetts Medical Center/Worcester. Stress Reduction Clinic. (1991). Full catastrophe living: Using the wisdom of your body and mind to face stress, pain, and illness. New York, N.Y. : Pub. by Dell Publishing, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Pub. Group. http://archive.org/details/fullcatastrophel00kaba_1

Martin, P. (2009). The Zen path through depression. HarperOne.

Morone, N. E., & Greco, C. M. (2014). Adapting mindfulness meditation for the older adult. Mindfulness, 5(5), 610–612.

Plum Village. (2019, October 11). Mindfulness, suffering, and engaged Buddhism. Hanh, T. N. (2011). The long road turns to joy: A guide to walking meditation. Parallax Press. 

Poletti, S., Razzini, G., Ferrari, R., Ricchieri, M. P., Spedicato, G. A., Pasqualini, A., Buzzega, C., Artioli, F., Petropulacos, K., Luppi, M., & Bandieri, E. (2019). Mindfulness-Based stress reduction in early palliative care for people with metastatic cancer: A mixed-method study. Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 47. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctim.2019.102218

Smith, A. (2018). Walking Meditation: Being Present and Being Pilgrim on the Camino de Santiago. Religions, 9(3), 82. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel9030082

Son, H. G., & Choi, E. (2018). The effects of mindfulness meditation-based complex exercise program on motor and Nonmotor symptoms and quality of life in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Asian Nursing Research, 12(2), 145-153.

Smith, A. (2018). Walking Meditation: Being Present and Being Pilgrim on the Camino de Santiago. Religions, 9(3), 82. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel9030082

Study Buddhism. (2020, May 20). Dr Murray Corke – What is Engaged Buddhism? YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMEJBJC3phU

Thich Nhat Hanh – A guide to walking meditation. (2020, November 18). Dhamma Talks Attaining PEACE with khowing & seeing a Handful of leaves. https://www.dhammatalks.net/Books2/Thich_Nhat_Hanh_A_Guide_to_Walking_Meditation.htm