Meditation for people who hate meditation

Meditation for people who hate meditationMeditation for people who hate meditationIve seen them on Instagram. The neutral color-wearing wellness influencers who must gracefully balance their iPhones against some cosmically-charged crystal to record their morning meditation ritual. There they sit, perfectly poised on a little cushion resembling a pom-pom, eyes closed as they breathe through a 15-second time-lapse video that probably took 10+ minutes to film. Meanwhile, there I am on the other side of the screen, unable to sit and hold my attention on one thing for even those 15 seconds. Imboredalready.Hear me out Irealizethat meditation and mindfulness has its benefits. Sharper focus, reduced stress, and activating yur inner chi and whatnot. Sounds peachy. But Im someone who couldnt sit through a movie as a child (much to my parents dismay), and hardly can todayBut for my fellow hyper-active, somewhat-perfectionistic, stress-inclined achievers, our mindsdodesperately need a break. Des pite my best attempts at becoming one of those people who can sit and meditate for minutes each morning, Im aHeadspacedropout (but I still recommend their excellent app). For me, the key was finding a more stimulating way to reap the rewards of meditation. My meditative practices need to involvemovement.Meditation with movementTurns out, Im not alone. Active meditation, also known as dynamic meditation, was popularized in the 1970s by an Indian mystic named Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, later known as Osho. He believed that our modern, super-stimulating world called for a meditation style that involved more physical activity. And he came to that conclusionbeforethe invention of the InternetSo if like me, youre someone who hates meditation, but still wants to reap the stress-busting, mind-clearing benefits, give these 5 tactics a try and let me know how they work out for you.1. Walking meditationThis is my go-to, since I start most of my days walking TeddyTheDog in our neighborhood park or (when Im short on time) around our city block. In order to make my time with Ted more of ameditativewalk, I leave my phone at home. Its okay. You can go for a walk without your phone and the world wont end, I promise.Then, I try to focus on what Im seeing, hearing, and sensing throughout the course of our stroll. Instead of thinking about everything on my TO DO list for the day, I try instead to keep my mind in the present moment, noticing the particular shade of blue in the morning sky, the smell of fresh cut grass, and all the elements of my surroundings for which Im especially grateful that day. And while I can neither confirm nor deny this rumor, some might even say that I talk to Teddy about my observations as we go2. Morning pagesDo you wake up each day with racing thoughts? Can you hardly get through breakfast without an anxiety-inducing laundry list gestalting in your mind? Julia Cameron, author ofThe Artists Way,popularized this written form of meditation that many of my f ellow creatives love.The first rule of morning pages is that theres no wrong way to do morning pages. The premise is simple every morning, start the day by writing three notebook pages of total stream-of-consciousness musings. Thats it Whatever comes out of your pen or pencil is just fine. The writing doesnt serve any purpose, it doesnt have to be perfect, and hell, it doesnt even need to make sense Its just your opportunity to mentally clear the decks for your brand-new day.For full disclosure, writing is the absolutelastthing I feel like doing in the morning, so I havent practiced this form of active meditation myself. Ive always been night owl journaler, personally. But Ive heard from many of my creative friends writers, coaches, and entrepreneurs alike that this is a sanity-saving practice they adore.3. YogaI love yoga for its fitness benefits, but even more for the mental calm it brings me. Thats part of the reason I did yoga three times a week in the final few weeks leading up tomy wedding dayYoga is all about aligning your body movements with your breathing, which feels very similar to meditation to me. Many seated meditation fans focus on their breathe as an anchor point to quiet their mind and prevent other thoughts from floating their way in. Meditative yoga is just like that, plus body movements that promote strength and flexibility on top of it all.While notallyoga is meditative, yoga that calms your mind as well as challenges your body is my favorite form of exercise. Its not about perfection or performance for others, its all about relaxing into poses that also stretch your comfort zone (both mentally and physically).4. Running meditationSimilar to walking meditation, running can be so much more than a physical activity alone. To reap the rewards of meditation through running, I focus my run on my breathe or on a simple mantra. For me, its all about my pace. I take two paces while inhaling and in my mind, saying the first half of the mantra. Th en I follow that with two paces while exhaling my breath and saying the second part of my mantra. I might say in my mind you can, while inhaling and then do this, while exhaling, for instance.When I amreallystressed out, panicking over something, or find myself facing down times of grief or loss, this form of active meditation seems to work best. It gets all that nervous, pent-up energy out of my body in a physically intense way, and I can calm myself down faster than just focusing on my breathing or on a mantra alone. Ill be honest, Ive taken quite a few runs like this while crying, and it helps me get through whatever Im dealing with like nothing else does.What forms of meditation do you practice?Id love to hear how youve cultivated mindfulness into your life, and whether you give any of the above options a try. Tell me Im not alone in being unable to sit through seated meditation, am I? If youre like me on that front, I highly recommend you give active meditation a try before cal ling it quits on the practice as a whole.This article was originally posted on BossedUp.org.