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Breathing Room at Home—Walking Meditation and Cultivating Wholesome Seeds
If there are three people living in the family, place about four or five cushions in the breathing room—one for guests—and decorate it with a bell and a pot holding a single flower. Whenever you feel upset or angry, enter the breathing room, bow to the bell, invite its sound three times, and breathe in and out three times per bell (nine in-breaths, nine out-breaths). This practice brings peace and calm, and when a child does it, parents often hear the bell, join in, and all three can sit, breathe in, breathing out, smiling—more beautiful than any painting. The breathing room is reserved only for sitting and breathing; anyone who follows you there must sit and listen to the bell. Young people are invited to plan a breathing room at home, help decorate it, and when they hear the small bell, stand up and bow before leaving.
In Plum Village, every movement applies mindful walking. Alone, practice slow walking—one step per in-breath, one per out-breath—saying “I have arrived” on the in-breath and “I am home” on the out-breath, investing 100% body and mind so each step truly lands you in the here and the now, the only place life is available. With the Sangha, you might make two steps while breathing in, “I have arrived. I have arrived,” and three while breathing out, “I am home. I am home. Home.” Bring attention to the sole of the foot, as if kissing the ground: you cultivate solidity (being well-established) and freedom (free of past and future) together. You may use a walking song or gatha—lines such as
- I have arrived, I am home.
- In the here and in the now.
- I am solid, I am free.
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In the ultimate I dwell.
to maintain mindfulness and concentration, which always brings happiness.
Because store consciousness holds many “seeds” (bījas)—positive (mindfulness, concentration, insight, love, joy) and negative (anger, fear, despair)—we practice true diligence, or selective watering, in four steps:
- Prevent negative seeds from manifesting.
- If a negative seed does manifest, “change the peg” by inviting a wholesome seed to replace it.
- Arrange to water wholesome seeds before they manifest.
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When a wholesome seed does manifest as a mental formation (e.g., joy, compassion), keep it alive as long as possible.
This management of seeds cultivates the three energies in us—mindfulness (smṛti), concentration (samādhi), and insight (prajñā)—allows us to touch and dwell in the kingdom of God or Pure Land here and now, and heals, transforms, and liberates us.
Part of the following collections
Inviting the Bell: Family Mindfulness and Breath Practice with Children