Repetitions and Reflections on the Exercise Path

Mother Teresa did it. Mohandas K. Gandhi did it. John the Baptist and Martin Luther King Jr. did it too.

Prayer-walking, also known as “walking meditation,” has been practiced by poets, philosophers and holy people from many religious traditions for centuries. Now this age-old discipline is experiencing a modern revival as stressed-out, harried Americans seek to commune with the divine while they shape up, enhancing fitness of body and soul.

“In our culture, we love to do two things at once, so we can be as efficient, effective and practical as possible,” says Linus Mundy, author of “The Complete Guide to Prayer-Walking” (Crossroad Publishing Co., 1997). Prayer-walking is especially helpful during busy times, such as the December holidays, he says, because it provides an easy way to be active, relieve stress and embrace the true spirit of the season.

Prayer-walking is simply “taking a stroll with your soul,” says Mundy, director of publications at Abbey Press, a Benedictine-owned publishing company in St. Meinrad, Ind. “There is no wrong way to do it.”

It can be a meandering saunter down a garden path or a brisk march around a track. The point is “to walk with prayerful intentions,” he says, “realizing that your real journey is an interior one.”

*

Ideally, prayer-walking is done outdoors in nature, where you can experience a divine presence in the whisper of wind in the trees or the soaring flight of a bird.

“We are all busy-busy and hurry-hurrying in our society, yet we know we have to slow down, physically, emotionally, spiritually,” Mundy says. ‘The wonder of prayer-walking is that it lets us keep moving, keep acting and doing on the outside while we slow down . . . on the inside.”

Mundy, 51, started walking to lose weight more than a decade ago. One day, he recalls, “I found myself walking, then praying, then prayer-walking.”

The experience inspired him to write an eight-page pamphlet called “Taking a Prayer-Walk,” published in 1992 as part of Abbey Press’ Care Notes series. The pamphlet’s popularity led to a small book, “Prayer-Walking” (Abbey Press, 1994), and then to his larger guide released in 1997.

While there’s no way of knowing how many people prayer-walk, spiritually focused walking is increasingly popular in varied locales, from health spas to religious retreats.

*

Focused walking can be an excellent stress-buster because it prompts a physiologic calming effect known as “the relaxation response,” says Dr. Herbert Benson, president of the Mind/Body Medical Institute at Harvard Medical School.

The opposite of the body’s “fight or flight” response to stress, the relaxation response is a tranquil state in which blood pressure is lowered, and heart rate, breathing rate and metabolic rate are decreased. It can be elicited, Benson says, by doing two things:

1. Repeating a word, sound or prayer, or doing a repetitive physical activity like walking or running.

2. Gently brushing aside distracting thoughts to return to your repetition. “If you do this regularly, for 10 to 20 minutes, once or twice a day, you can reverse the negative physiological effects of the fight or flight response,” Benson says. While it’s possible to elicit the relaxation response without moving, he notes, “when you exercise and simultaneously focus your mind, your exercise becomes more efficient--that is, you require less energy to do physical work. And our research also shows that focused walking is associated with reduced anxiety and diminished negative thoughts.”

Including prayer as part of a focused walk can help activate the therapeutic effect of belief, says Benson, who explores “the biology of belief” in his book “Timeless Healing” (Fireside, 1997).

You can stride toward inner peace with a focused walk using these simple steps:

Breathe consciously. Notice each breath and the number of steps you take as you breathe in and breathe out. If you take three steps during an in-breath, say silently, “One, two, three,” or “In, in, in,” one word with each step. If you take four steps per inhale, count “One, two, three, four”--whatever is comfortable.

Switch to using meaningful words, instead of numbers, to keep time with your steps. Walk in time with the phrase.

Don’t worry about whether you’re doing your focused walk “right.” If you feel peace and joy while you’re walking, you’re practicing properly.

Carol Krucoff writes a column on health and fitness issues for the Washington Post.