How to Practice Breath Observation from Stillness to Movement

After your contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) in sitting meditation has become proficient, you should practice keeping the mind tranquil while engaged in activity, and continue observing the breath at the same time. When you have sat very purely in meditation and your contemplative practice is highly focused, try slowly getting down from the seat and doing walking meditation on the ground, walking back and forth, either briskly or slowly. See whether at this time your mind can still rest on your own breathing, without being swayed by the sense objects around you. If you are not carried away, it shows that your meditative concentration (samādhi) in observing the breath is very good; then you can practice observing the breath with relative focus at any time. If you can still observe the breath while engaged in activity, it shows that this power of concentration is excellent—even stronger than when sitting in meditation. In this way, your skill in observing the breath has become quite deep, and the skill of walking, standing, sitting, and lying down can be joined into one continuous whole.