How to Meditate While Walking Down a Busy Street

You may usually think of meditation as taking place in a quiet serene setting, maybe sitting on a cushion in an incense-filled room, maybe walking in super-slow motion down a country lane with sunshine glinting off the trees and birds twittering in the background.

I live in the city. I like to take walks. It relaxes me to take walks down even crowded and noisy city streets.

Sometimes I like to do a kind of meditation while I walk. What I describe here is an exercise I adapted from something I read by Thich Nhat Hanh, a Buddhist monk with a knack for making complicated topics seem simple. While Hanh himself favors being in the quiet countryside, I found that I could adapt some of his ideas to enrich my own city walks.

I don't aim to put myself into a complete meditative state, but rather to just be more relaxed than I would have been otherwise. I also find this exercise to be a good pick-me-up if I am feeling depressed.

Here's how you do it:

Walk down the street at your normal pace. Start paying attention to your breathing. Become aware of your in-breath. Become aware of your out-breath.

Start counting your steps. How many steps do you take on an in-breath? How many on an out-breath? Spend a few moments counting your steps as you breath in and out. Then continue to walk without counting, but maintaining the same rhythm of breathing and steps.

On your next in-breath, say the word "Calm" to yourself. Draw the word out so that it takes most of the in-breath to say it to yourself. As you say the word, let the muscles you don't need for walking relax. Relax your shoulders. Relax your face.

On your next out-breath, say the word "Smile." Don't break into a huge grin, but let the corners of your mouth turn up slightly, as if you were the Mona Lisa.

Practice breathing in and out in coordination with your steps, saying "Calm" to yourself on the in-breath and "Smile" on the out-breath.

When you are ready, on your next in-breath, say to yourself "Present Moment." As you say the words, feel yourself existing in the present moment. Let the past and the future go.

On your next out-breath, say to yourself "Precious Moment." No matter how bad a day you are having, let yourself find some pleasure in the present moment, in your walking and breathing and relaxing.

Now put it all together. In: Calm. Out: Smile. In: Present Moment. Out: Precious Moment. Repeat.

Walking down a city street, you won't be able to maintain perfect concentration. You have to be aware enough of what is going on around you so that you don't bump into people or get run over crossing the street! That's no problem. Every time you get pulled out of your meditation, simply go back to it.

I like to do this for a few minutes at a time. I find that it clears my head and lifts my spirits. Try it! It's so simple, and yet has such a nice effect.