Zen walking meditation, kinhin, was covered in the last chapter, and walking meditation is not particular to Zen practice. Walking meditation is a wonderful complement to seated meditation, mindfulness, or mantra practice. Walking meditation is a way to practice mindfulness while moving around the world you inhabit. If you leave your meditation on the floor with your zafu, you won't make as much progress as you will if you take it with you into your day.

Because walking meditation proved so beneficial, the Buddha and his disciples used it in their practice. In Thailand, walking meditation is such a fundamental part of practice that a walk is built into each meditation center for the monks' use. There are obvious physical benefits to walking meditation as well. Even slow walking provides stretching and a respite to the strenuousness of prolonged seated practice. Walking meditation can rejuvenate the mind and the body. Walking aids concentration, digestion, promotes physical fitness, and rejuvenates the body — all the while still practicing mindfulness.