Submitted photo Chan and Eugenia Park of Silver Spring are partners in Tango and in life. This photograph is on the cover of Chan Park's book "Tango Zen."

"Tango is the dance of connection, relaxation, and silent communication. Meditation is the art of discovering and reconciling one's nature. Together ... they make the music of mind and body, one step at a time," Park contends.

In his book "Tango Zen: Walking Dance Meditation," which will be available in January, Park explains how Tango and Zen may be practiced together.

He begins by introducing them separately.

Zen, Park writes, is "designed to free one's mind from slavery to reason and logic. The purpose of Zen practice is to realize and to express one's true nature through meditation." It results in "balance, calmness, groundedness, centering, and harmony in mind and body."

And Tango, he says, "is a dance of connection, uniting one and one's partner while walking and listening to music -- together." Its benefits, he adds, "can be explained in many aspects including social, physical, and emotional."

Tango Zen, he writes, "is meditation in motion, and, if practiced properly, may enable Tango dancers and non-dancers alike to meditate and experience [the] Zen moment while dancing Tango."

The idea for uniting the two came to Park when he recognized that the "timeless, spaceless experience ... [the feeling of being] somewhere else" he achieves while doing the Tango corresponds to the Zen meditation he knew about from an intellectual perspective.

He realized that "What we're pursuing is the same thing. Being in the present is the goal." As such, he adjusted the Zen mantra "Be here now," with its dismissal of past and future, to "Tango here now."

Park noted that Tango dancers tend to keep their eyes closed, suggesting a meditative state involving mind, body and spirit. To illustrate, he points to the "peaceful, sleeplike faces" of the dancers in the photographs in his book. Other social dancers, he says, are "more alert."

Intrigued by these observations, Park questioned fellow Tango enthusiasts, and they, too, were familiar with the feeling.

"The effects and benefits of meditation are experienced and shared among avid Tango dancers," he observes.

It takes two to tango, and Park's partner in Tango from the start has been his wife Eugenia Park. The Korean-born electrical engineer for NASA Goddard met the Russian-born special education high school teacher about seven years ago -- the first night he went out dancing at a now-defunct Chevy Chase Tango Night. His goal as a single parent was "to do something different," he says, certainly never expecting to find so much of his future in a single evening.

Both novices, future husband and wife "learned by practicing together."

Park believes that "Tango can be fully enjoyed only if one completely surrenders to and connects with one's partner, both physically and emotionally, while dancing."

For those who have studied neither Tango nor Zen, Park's book will serve only as an introduction to his combination concept and an invitation to try it out. "Tango Zen" is not an instruction manual for the uninitiated; there's not a Tango step to be found.

Park follows his definitions with a delineation of the ideas he adapted from Zen -- from posture and breathing to letting go and releasing the ego. Quotations from diverse sources -- including Albert Einstein, Abraham Lincoln, Martha Graham and Buddha -- provide relevant wisdom and encouragement.

"Dance first. Think later. It's the natural order"

-- Samuel Beckett

A final section of the book consists of exercises to "practice alone or with your partner to embark on your way toward meditating while dancing Tango." Divided into warm-up, individual and couple standing and walking, Park advises a focus on "feel[ing] sensations happening throughout your body ... listen[ing] to your heartbeat and your partner's heartbeat." The exercises work on posture, breathing, stretching and balance.

In addition to their full-time jobs, the Parks give Tango lessons preceding a dance on Tuesday evenings in the District. They also lead classes, workshops and retreats in North and South America as well as Europe and Asia.

Check out "Tango Zen," and thereafter, when "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart offers a moment of Zen, you might want to get up and, as Park says, "dance with Buddha" and "meditate with Tango."