WHY YSK- Many people practice mindfulness and meditation as part of their lives, and some would like to but feel like they don’t have time to sit down and meditate properly. Once you’ve gotten used to doing it as a part of your daily activities, it becomes easy to simply take a few breaths and gain some peace from your everyday existence. You don’t need to wait for a time when you can sit and clear your mind completely. It’s a nice bonus, but not necessary for living a mindful life.
Meditation while tuning or walking or exchanging on elliptical is amazing thing. It is easier to meditate and it helps you with exercise well.
The world should have more meditation. Another great time to practice is when lying down for bed.
Edit: I suffer from sleeplessness, and do not use this help me fall asleep. I now recognize that my case may be user-specific, as I do NOT use this time for sleeping or falling asleep. I have other practices that help when that time comes, after meditation.
I disagree regarding lying down for bed. Never teach your body to associate the relaxation of meditation with sleep. Unless you only need it for immediately before you sleep to calm your mind.
I can now have mindfulness while doing activities (not driving ofc). Your body will do what you teach it, and I’ve stopped falling asleep meditating when I removed it from bedtime.
Yes, the world needs more meditation.
i’ve been using a simple “box breathing” technique when i start to feel the anxiety begin to creep… it’s really effective for me…
breathing is a four stage process: inhale - hold - exhale - hold (edit: and repeat as necessary)
you force each stage to last 3-4 seconds… it’s hard to hold your lungs empty when you’re stressed, so forcing yourself to do this can sort of forcibly lower your anxiety level… it can be really effective, very quickly…
and as a breathing technique, it sort of qualifies as fundamental meditation as well
Thanks for this. It seems like something that can be done anywhere.
yeah i do it lying in bed, sitting at the computer, wherever
Great post OP
Practicing mindfulness has been the most important thing in my life for my own health and growth as a person.
I got into eastern philosophy in high school, and never really looked back, only building my own system tailored to me and extrapolating the principles into every possible facet, and every moment. It’s a battle to stay constantly on the point, but one I really enjoy having.
Thank you! I have been trying for years to stay on the path to mindfulness, but only recently has it really clicked that even when life is difficult or busy, it’s not a chore-it’s a relief to go back to my practice.
This kind of checking in with yourself during activities is one of the foundational techniques taught in some kinds of therapy as well, like cognitive behavior therapy and dialectic behavior therapy
Meditation may be defined as the repetition of a word, sound, phrase, and/or movement, while adopting a passive mind frame - Herbert Benson, M.D. Author of Relaxation Response 1975 ISBN 978-0-688-02955-5
Juggling a soccer ball and shooting a basketball are two that work for me, running as well. I think the key is something that requires just a bit of your attention ( I like the dish washing example above) but once you’re able to do it without much thought that’s when your mind can lapse away from conscious stream of thought.
Surely it will paint a picture to people who enjoys psychology and how it effects mindfulness so here goes my life story i guess, tldr is at the end.
First of all, I am not diagnosed with anything other than anxiety and depression so i can’t say that i have ADHD nor i am autistic, at least to some degree. But i felt clearly distressed whenever I tried to meditate to practice mindfulness instead of “having worries over small possibilities” and hereby said feck all this. Almost a year ago I am informed that If I feel uncomfortable I repeatedly t-t-t-t with my mouth. Apparently it is weird to my colleagues. So I imagined that has to be my answer to stress at my job and left at that. (My job is secure as it gets that I wish I could branch out but can not lol) Then today I saw this article and all that parts in my life clicked perfectly. Thanks me for being my own life coach today. If you read to this part thank you too!
Tldr: I just remembered that i am actually more stressed when trying to do nothing. I stim when I am stressed. I think this can be classified as active meditation. I can be wrong.
It can be whatever you need it to be if it is soothing to you. If you let those worries come and acknowledge them instead of trying to hold them back, you care for yourself in the way you need to be cared for. Just keep breathing in an even way and examine the worry. Is it something that needs to be taken care of or no? Make note of it as a “for later me” thing and return to focusing on your breath and the task.
I usually do sittinf meditation but yesterday I tried walking meditation, it was a guided one from balance, realised all my walks have been missing so much enjoyment that was there all along!
I’m so glad you tried it! Now you can take that skill with you on all your walks going forward.
This is why cycling was so good for me and my mental health.
