This Step Home: Simple Guide to Walking Meditation

Walking meditation has been practiced for centuries in many parts of the world. Some practices are strict and ritualized, others more free and easy.

In "This Step Home", writing directly from his half-century of meditation practice, Jeff Falconer provides step-by-step instruction in a simple and accessible style of walking meditation. The everyday act of walking, along with a relaxed awareness of one's breath, one's body in motion, and one's surroundings, can quickly reward the mindful walker with deep calm, clarity and renewed harmony with the natural world. Walking meditation can be enjoyed in a single room, on a mountain trail, or on a busy city street. Cultivating this easy discipline can transform such common tasks as walking the aisles of a store, walking the halls at work, or standing in line at the bank.

Inspired at every turn of his meditative path to simplify and distill his practice down to the essentials, Falconer has developed a non-denominational approach, wherein no new beliefs need to be added and no existing beliefs shed. While many beneficial forms of meditation are connected to larger systems of religious or philosophical thought, it is Falconer's experience that meditation can be quite satisfying with no such affiliations.

Short and sweet, this booklet can be read in a day, or opened at random to a page or paragraph for inspiration. It will fit easily into pocket, purse or backpack, and is an excellent companion for any ambulatory adventure. For both beginning and experienced meditators, or for folks who are merely curious and considering a practice of mindfulness, "This Step Home" will provide valuable insight and encouragement, in a friendly voice free of dogma or hierarchy.

"This Step Home" is intended to be a breath of fresh air, and it is.

 I recommend "This Step Home" to anyone who likes to walk and to mediate, or who would like to do both but hasn’t gotten around to doing them. The writing is clear, easy to understand and free of jargon. Whether you’re a Buddhist or a Hindu, a pagan or a Christian—no matter what your spiritual practice—“Every Step Home” will bring you closer to your heart and your true self.

Jonah Raskin, author of A Terrible Beauty: The Wilderness of American Literature.