Offer walking meditation

We organized our first walking meditation in 2008, walking mindfully through the shopping hustle and bustle on Kurfürstendamm in Berlin.

Contemplations are invitations to self-reflection. We take a contemplation such as: "May all beings be happy." We connect with this heartfelt wish in silence and walk with it. "All beings" – step. "Happy" – step. We synchronize our steps with our breath. We connect deeply with these words and allow ourselves to be touched by them. What do they mean for my life? What happens when I meet all people with goodwill? If we walk in this way, at the end of our journey we will look at people with changed eyes. And people will look at us differently. This is the practice and the truth of interbeing.

At the beginning of the year, our preparation team gets together and asks ourselves: "What does the world need right now?" More unity? More peace? More simplicity? A key theme emerges. We then distill this into a catchy motto, which we test with some NAW friends. Following this, our designer, Tom, designs the postcards, and we formulate concepts related to the theme.

 fWe traditionally have our walking meditation on the Saturday before the first Sunday of Advent. We wish to connect with the original spirit of Advent — ​​a time of reflection, silence, and focusing on the essential. In some cities, we walk amidst the consumerist impulses our holiday-hyped shopping streets, bearing witness to a healthy alternative and maintaining (or at least practicing) our freedom from wants.

Every year we produce a postcard with our motto in DIN A5 format; examples can be found on this page. The back contains further information about walking meditation as well as some contemplations on the topic. We print these postcards in larger quantities in German and English. They can be ordered from Christiane.

The walking meditations on site are largely organized by dedicated members of Thich Nhat Hanh's international Plum Village community, the Order of Interbeing, and activists from the Mindful Economy network. Local initiatives can be undertaken by anyone familiar with the spirit and practice of walking meditation and who wishes to contribute to a healing movement in the world.

The primary purpose of our walking meditation is walking meditation itself. We walk simply for the sake of walking. We recognize the meaning and effect of each small step. By learning to walk in this way, we change ourselves and the world. This is the spirit of the practice. At the same time, we come together as a community and around a theme that resonates with us. We walk with and for a cause. In silence and without shouting. HOW we walk is important: peaceful, joyful, focused, kind, generous, connected — how we walk is our message.

There isn't just one form of walking meditation. Some groups walk through busy Christmas markets or shopping centers. Others meet in parks or on the banks of a river. In some countries, public walking meditations are not permitted. We can look for a form that suits our region, our group, and our own capabilities.

Some of us are shy and don't feel comfortable when we receive too much attention. Others, however, deliberately want to attract attention and have themselves escorted by the police along main streets. Some groups integrate walking meditation into practice days on the same theme, while others direct their steps to local places that have a connection to the topic. We are free to choose our own form. However, we encourage you to step a little outside your comfort zone and dare to do something, to stretch and expand your mind a little.

It has proven beneficial to take some time at the end of the walking meditation to share in smaller groups and to delve deeper into the experience together. And perhaps to share some cookies, tea, or other treats.