Currently, I’m about as regular with meditation as I am with social media. (Oof). But it’s something I aspire to doing every day, (meditating, that is) and something I’ve gone through periods of doing daily.
I have a lot of excuses for why I don’t sit for 15-20 min every morning; my kid is asking me for breakfast... there’s something urgent in my email, etc. But mostly it’s because traditional meditation is hard for me.
I want to stay busy even if I’m busy doing nothing, or I want to lie around and daydream even when my thoughts are repetitive and boring or even negative.
I once did a 10-day silent meditation retreat. It was fairly excruciating, but by the end I felt more peaceful and content than I have at any other time in my life.
There’s a ton of science out there on how good meditation is for our brains and bodies. (And there are thousands of years of tradition too!)
So here are some sneaky ways I do my meditation;
1. Egg timer; I flip over a board-game sand-timer and I watch sand fall for one minute. That’s all I task myself with, one minute! I breathe and watch. And almost always I want to flip it over a few more times and keep breathing.
2. I use motion; I walk through the woods and breathe in rhythm with my steps, in for 4, hold for 2, out for 6. Or something like that. The numbers change with how out-of-breath I get but I stay focused on counting and breathing. It’s niiiiiiiice.
3. I lay down in the middle of the day and listen to a guided meditation. These can be affirmation based, or focused on visualization and energy work, or sometimes I listen to trippy music if I’m already somewhat calm.
4. I sit in my car! This is my new favorite thing to do. After dropping Otis at school or coming home from the gym I pull in my driveway, cut the engine and just sit there and breathe deep breaths. It’s quiet and still... with nice views of the yard! I ignore my concerns of what the neighbors think. (Our mailman just walked right by).
5. I do yin stretches at night. I set a timer and do long-held relaxation poses before bed.
6. I pair it with oil pulling - I sit on my meditation cushion while swishing coconut oil in my mouth for 15-20 min (It’s a dental thing. I just got a tooth pulled y’all, so TEETH are on my mind).
I *try* to do one of these things each day- two if I’m a rockstar! And once I get into the flow, I find I WANT to wake up with a light stretch and a seated meditation!
Hope you’re inspired. I’m off to meditate. 😄 XOmolly