If you want to be healthier, count your steps. (Ten thousand a day is the standard, and somewhat arbitrary, advice.)
If you want to be happier, consider your steps:
“We walk all the time, but usually it’s more like running. Our hurried steps print anxiety and sorrow on the earth.”
This advice comes from the late Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh. It’s an introduction to walking meditation, a practice meant to draw us away from the mindless everyday scramble and into the flow of life.
The idea, according to this great teacher, “is that we do not put anything ahead of ourselves and run after it. When we practice walking meditation, we walk in this spirit. We just enjoy the walking, with no particular aim or destination. Our walking is not a means to an end. We walk for the sake of walking.”
It’s taking something most of us do out of necessity and turning it into a joyful act of presence.
“Why rush? Our final destination will only be the cemetery. Why not walk in the direction of life, enjoying peace in each moment with every step? There is no need to struggle. Enjoy every step you make. Every step brings you home to the here and the now.”
- Thich Nhat Hanh
In a deeper sense, this isn’t about walking at all. It’s a reminder to be where your feet are, the only place true happiness exists.
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