Walking meditation is useful for a change of pace when engaged in prolonged sitting, such as on personal or group retreats. In slow walking, the upper body should be in the same posture as in sitting, though the hands are held differently. The left palm lightly encloses the right hand, which is a loosely formed fist. Joined in this way, the hands should be held in front of the abdomen, forearms parallel to the ground. Focus attention on the bottom of the feet as you walk with measured steps. If walking in an enclosed space, walk in a clockwise direction. Fast walking, another method, is walking energetically without actually running; The main difference in posture is that the arms are now dropped to the sides, swinging naturally. Take short fast steps, keeping the attention on the feet.

Regulating the breath is very simple: just breathe naturally. Do not try to control your breathing. The breath is used as a way to focus or concentrate the mind; that is, regulating the breath and regulating the mind are brought together. The basic method is to count one's breath in a repeating cycle of ten. Through concentration on the simple technique of counting, the mind is less vulnerable to wandering thoughts. Starting with one, mentally (not vocally) count each exhalation until you reach ten, keeping the full attention on the counting. After reaching ten, start over again with one. Do not count during the inhalation, but just keep the mind on the intake of air through the nose. When random thoughts occur while counting, ignore them and continue counting. If wandering thoughts cause you to lose count or go beyond ten, as soon as you become aware of it start over again at one. If you have so many distracting thoughts that keeping count is impossible, you can vary the method--counting backward from ten to one, or counting by twos from two to twenty.