5 Things You Already Do That Count as Meditation Practices
20 years ago, when meditation, to most, was still something happening in the far-away ashrams of India, the idea of sitting in silence for more than 10 minutes seemed like a distant reality at best, a threat at worst.
Until recently, the benefits of meditation and its applicability to our everyday life were still rather murky. It was considered a “nice-to-have” when you had time, rather than an essential in life’s toolbox for every day.
How much has changed since then. Science has made great strides in understanding how mindfulness and meditation have a physiological effect on our brains. We now have Buddhist monks’ brain scans evidencing the effect of mindfulness and gadgets measuring our brain activity when meditating in our own four walls.
Still, there is something that is relatively unknown about meditation. We commonly think of it as an activity that happens in lotus position, silent, eyes closed. Yet it is everyday life that presents us with the greatest opportunity to apply mindfulness and practice meditation.
It is here — outside of the temporary vacuum, on our meditation cushion — that we transform our life, as we bring non-judgmental awareness into all aspects of it.
Mealtimes
We all eat. We eat every day. Thus, there is lots of potential to incorporate mindfulness meditation into your meal times.
When you eat, you nourish your body and give it the energy it needs to take you through the day. This in itself is quite a profound thing when you think about it. Eating engages many senses at once; in fact, it engages all of them. This makes it an excellent setting to practice being mindful of our body and to develop an awareness for the sensations that you’re experiencing.
Eating meditation can be practised simply by eating a little more slowly, chewing properly, and having an awareness for the tastes and textures of the food. Begin your meal by expressing gratitude for something in your life (it could be family, health, friends, career, even “the weather is nice today”). For your mindful meals, try to choose light, small portions that don’t make you feel groggy and drowsy after eating them. Focus on how you are nourishing your body as you eat. Appreciate your meal time as a time away from your devices. This will give you the opportunity to be completely in the now, away from to-dos and notifications.
Breathing
It isn’t surprising that the breath has become the foundation of many spiritual and meditation practices. It is something you do automatically, without needing to try, which makes it an easy way to start practising mindfulness.
Our breath is an important recycling and detoxing system for our body, but most of us don’t make the most of it (yes, there is a right way to breathe). If you have ever attended a Pranayama Yoga session, you will know the effect that targeted and extended breathing exercises have on the body.
Focusing on your breath for a minute of mindfulness is a powerful way to slow down and recenter yourself. During this time, make a conscious effort to breathe into your stomach. Really feel the air filling it and shaping it into a ball, then breathe out slowly. Counting to 2 whilst you breathe in, stopping for 1 second and counting to 4 whilst you breathe out will calm your system. This is called parasympathetic breathing. You can stop for a second after exhaling and extend your breath counts, as long as you count in for longer on breathing out.
P.S. If you need to energise yourself, simply do the opposite: breathe in for longer than you breathe out.
Walking
We take walks to exercise, get fresh air, or just to clear our head. Whatever kind of walker you may be, the process of moving is a great way to practice mindfulness. When you move, your heart beats faster, meaning that more blood and oxygen are pumped to your brain. This promotes alertness — you feel more “there”.
Walking in nature is a great setting for practising mindfulness. Because your body is already active, all you need to do is focus your attention on your body as it moves. How does the ground feel below your feet? How does your heart rate change? How does the air you are breathing in feel?
Many people take walks to do some thinking, and this is a great setting to clear your head. For the sake of this exercise, however, try to keep your mind focused on the sensations in your body. Don’t judge yourself when your mind begins to wander. It likes wandering, remember? Just stay in a gentle space of attention and when thoughts come up, gently bring your focus back on the feeling in your body.
Sitting
Yes, sitting. We are not talking about the hyper-optimised ergonomic office chair, getting-up-every-30 minutes-to-stretch type of sitting. Sitting has gotten a bad reputation lately with most of us doing too much of it and not getting enough physical activity.
There is another side to the act of sitting, one that serves as a powerful foundation for meditation. When we sit, our body is at rest. It is therefore a powerful way to observe the sensations and the feeling in our body without being “distracted” by other movements.
When you have been on your feet most of the day, sitting can be a way to reset and recharge for a few minutes. Make sure to have your back straight, with your arms in a relaxed position in your lap. Focus on the feeling of your feet on the ground (that’s unless you prefer to sit in lotus position). You can also close your eyes during this time to give them a rest from your devices’ screens.
Sit like this for a few minutes every time you feel like recentering and refocusing.
Brushing your Teeth
Do you like your toothbrush wet or dry? The reason we’re asking is because most of us wet our toothbrush before we put on toothpaste. And this, believe it or not, is the beginning of a powerful daily mindfulness practice.
Mindfulness and meditation can easily seem like something sacred we should practise in front of Buddha statues in a designated holy space. But sometimes something as simple as switching up a routine can bring us out of autopilot and into the present moment. This is where mindfulness flourishes.
The exercise goes like this: If you like to wet your toothbrush before putting on the toothpaste, try to have it dry when you put on the toothpaste and wet it afterwards.
Autopilot can be an energy-saving mechanism for many things (you would not want to have to think of how to tie a shoelace every time you want to leave the house). Bringing yourself back into the present moment for the most mundane activities can be a powerful tool to incorporate mindfulness into your daily lives.
There are many ways to meditate and we often forget that there is not just a one-size-fits-all method. In fact, depending on the type of meditation you practise, you will feel differently after. In this way, loving-kindness meditation will cause a different kind of process in your mind and body than, say, a gratitude meditation. (The book Altered Traits by Daniel Goleman and Richard J. Davidson does a great job at showing the different kinds of effects of a series of meditation practices.)
There is not necessarily a better mode of meditation. The one most beneficial to you is the one you practice daily — it depends on you. So if you have found that the formal practice is not something you can practise regularly, we hope that these little tweaks to your everyday activities will help you invite mindfulness into your life.
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