Customer Reviews

The Long Road Turns to Joy: A Guide to Walking Meditation

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've been waiting for an author to capture the experience of walking meditation. For years I have been baffled by those who say that walking is boring and that running is preferable. I have always found meditative walking to be joyful and now there is one who paints such a lovely picture of this mystical experience accessible for so many.

A soul-enriching work in every sense.

This simple and easy to read guide to walking meditation is much deeper than it looks. It is a step-by-step instruction book on the way (and pleasure) of walking meditation.I can tell you first hand that a slow and mindful walk does wonders for lifes daily stress. Hanh is Buddhist monk that writes for the general public. He shares his insites with the reader about the benefits of a quiet meditative walk. He covers breathing and mind-calming techniques for those who wish to explore walking meditation more deeply. I recommend this book to anyone who wishes they could excape from lifes turmoil and slow down a bit. It may end up being the best $7.00 you've ever spent.

Thich Nhat Hanh recently spoke to the United States Congress about peace, violence, compassion, and listening. He suggested that members of Congress can find both inner and universal peace through walking meditation, or mindful walking. This tiny book serves as an introduction to this practice. Each page represents an idea, and the first page proclaims "Anyone can do it." Reading on, the book reveals the true simplicity of walking meditation, and validates the claim that "anyone can do it." Controlling one's breath is not the goal, but being aware of one's breath, being aware of the earth and one's feet against it. The book explains how to accomplish this in incredibly easy to understand language. Short stories about the Buddah and Thich Nhat Hanh's experiences with walking meditation, as well as many photos, punctuate the lessons. The book also suggests practical applications for walking meditation: dealing with anger, panic, and helping to find solutions to immediate problems. A great introduction to meditation and the thought of Thich Nhat Hahn.

As a long time fan and believer in the words of Thich Nhat Hanh, this book was not what I expected. The editorial and publishers reviews I read on other sites misrepresentated the books actual format and content. I was expecting a real "book" and not a poetic picture book. I expected more in depth writing and not just bits of wise poetry. The book is fine for what it is, as anything that this amazing author writes is very worthy of our time, but from what I had read about it I had been expecting more. It fell short of the publishers reviews but that does not mean it is not a good little book. I ordered it here after I read about it on other sites, and did not see the photo description here on Amazon. Had I seen the cover and been able to look inside, for some reason I was unable to do this when I ordered it here on Amazon?, I wold not have been disappointed and probably not ordered it. It does make a very nice gift book especially to a friend who is not familiar with his writing or someone who is too busy to spend much time reading. Nicely done for what it presents. I gave it the 3stars because of my disappointment.

Do you think that walking is boring? Or simply a means of getting from A to B as quickly as possible? Make life real with every step you take! In this lovingly written, pocket-sized book the Zen master, teacher and poet Thich Nhat Hanh explains how walking can become a form of meditation, revolutionizing your daily life. Let this book be your companion and discover the way to walk for the sake of walking; unify your mind, body and breath; really see and appreciate your surroundings; and most of all, enjoy yourself! Print your footsteps in peace, joy and happiness. You are your path in life - so take a breath and start to walk!

Although we have our automobiles and bikes, elevators and escalators, walking is something that we cannot avoid in this society. Many of us may rush off to business meetings or appointments and forget about the beauty of nature that surrounds us everyday.
This book teaches how to put our mind on the simple things of life again in order to recover our peace of mind in our "instant" society. This Vietnemese Zen Master teaches "walking just for the sake of walking"; something I think we all should learn.

A practical, inspirational, instructional guide to walking meditation. The book is small enough to carry with you. Refer to it often as a reminder to walk in joy.

You can take it with you.

At the size of a standard photograph, this book is designed to slip easily into your walking pocket to keep you mindful of the mindfulness necessary for walking meditation.

This text now comes in a variety of media, including VHS and DVD, but the Parallax Press reprint is expecially useful and welcome for those actually practicing the prayer of walking meditation.

We are a Pilgrim Church; let us grow most profoundly mindful of the Immanent Presence and Path.

This book is a sheer delight and instruction by the great and prolific monk Thich Nhat Hanh, still in exile from his native Vietnam, nominated by the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, JR. in 1967 for the Nobel Peace Prize and still actively fighting for peace literally with every mindful breath ever since that distant time forty yeares ago.

Christian, Catholic, Muslim or Jew, Hindu or Sikh, this book will do you no harm; it is not a threat to your path but an aid to walking truly and deeply your own path. It brings you to a deeper realization of the path which you truly walk. With this book you cannot go wrong, but ever more right. Read it in peace while you walk. Read it while you walk with your family. Read it and know consciously the path that you walk.

Dante begins his great trilogy announcing that he awoke while walking within a dark woods in the middle of his life, discovering perils on all sides but the path through hell to paradise. By this book may you awaken to your path, and may it lead us all together to the true Paradise which awaits all those who walk in peace and compassion as commanded.

Once upon a time, and still regularly in my parish in Mexico, we Catholics took prayerful walks together in processions, every day in May, in Lent, in Advent (posadas), for the Virgen de Guadalupe, very mindful and prayerful walks meditating the mysteries of our Faith, conscious as here of everything we did upon our walk, deeply mindful. Outside of my small and traditional parish in Mexico we have mostly lost this tradition. We do well to regain it. We begin by this book, remembering how to pray on our feet, like the Israelis escaping Egypt, to pray fully mindful, with all of our hearts and souls, on the run, a Pilgrim Church.

Highly recommended.

Spring and summer are on their way. Make sure you have a copy in your pocket.
This is a no less than a revolution in meditation from a contemporary master.
He uses simple prose to put an ageless technique into contemporary practice. If you love walking you will love this book and the possibilities it opens up.
I loved the book but I am more of a pacer in the lawn than a walker.

This is a delightful little book, which brought me peace and calm just by reading it.

Thich Nhat Hanh is a wise Zen master, who lives in exile in France, in a community called Plum Village. He tells us we must learn to make "peaceful, anxiety-free" steps. Walking with mindfulness brings us "real happiness".

He teaches us how to walk noticing our breath and the number of steps we take whilst breathing in and out. If we take three steps while breathing in and four steps while breathing out, we can say to ourselves, for instance, "In, in, in" and "Out, out, out, out", one word for each step. At the same time we might imagine we're walking majestically like a tiger. We should keep a "half-smile" on our face while we walk. When we focus on the present moment in this way, all our worries disappear.

You can practise the walking meditation on the way to your car, or up and down the stairs. If possible, however, walk in a park or some other place where you're in contact with nature.

Hanh tells us that the Buddha imprinted peace and joy in the Earth with each step he took, When we walk as he did, we continue this work.

The book includes photos of Thich Nhat Hanh and others practising the walking meditation, some of the photos being from his community in Plum Village.

Towards the end of the book we are presented with examples of the author's poems. For example, the following little gem, entitled "Walking Peace":

Peace is the walk.
Happiness is the walk.

Walk for yourself
and you walk for everyone.

I highly recommend this peaceful little book. However, I must point out that it takes practice to coordinate one's breathing with one's steps and thus perform the meditation correctly. But practice makes perfect.