Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma December 16, 2011

Bowing is Just Bowing

Bowing is just bowing. You do it mindfully, in a particular way, aware of the body and mind in the doing of it. The so-called meaning of it is extra. It’s not a symbolic or conceptual act. It’s just another form of sitting practice. You sit, you walk, the bell rings, you get up and bow. To just do what you do with full attention and without much worry is an important part of the method in Zen.

- Norman Fischer, "Why do we bow?"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

I wrote more on bowing here