Riding the six breaths: free and easy wandering
The first chapter of the Zhuangzi pictures someone who rides the changing weather of the world and wanders without a destination. What it might mean to be at ease anywhere.
Hold your own3 min read
How it goes
- 01
At the trailhead 40″
Sit or stand comfortably. Picture a path that climbs gently toward a ridge in the Rockies. Feel the cool air at the tip of your nose.
- 02
Walk on the out-breath 2′
Breathe in and the path waits. Breathe out slowly and take the next steps. The slower the breath, the further you go. There is no score.
- 03
Reach the ridge 1′
The trees thin out and the ground opens. Pause here for a few breaths and look as far as you can see.
- 04
Stay with the view 1′
Let the view be larger than your thoughts. Notice the wind, the colours, the distance.
- 05
Walk back 30″
Turn around on an out-breath. Come down the path as slowly as you went up, back to the room you are sitting in. You’re back.
Roam is our third mode, after Still and Gather. The idea is simple: the world opens only as you breathe out. If the breath is quick, you stay where you are. If it slows, you travel. Nothing is scored and the path has no end.
The Roam tool on this site makes the same walk with a picture; here it is in words. You can also do the whole thing with your eyes closed. The breath is the vehicle, and the picture is only somewhere to go.
Wandering does not mean the mind is racing. It is a way of letting attention move freely and slowly over something it likes. When you are back, nothing has been solved. You have only been somewhere else for five minutes.
Take care. Practise seated or standing still, never while walking outdoors, driving or cycling, because your attention will be turned inward. If picturing a high place is uncomfortable, picture a valley or a lake shore instead. Keep the breath easy and never strain for a longer exhale.