It’s taken me a very long time to work out that what I had thought of as meditation was not the only way. There is undoubtedly a place for stillness, sitting and being in the moment. However, that’s not the sole space of meditation. For me, I often find I get some crucial meditative boosts throughout the day in other ways.
Mediation doesn’t have to be static. I learned this through yin yoga, which was one of the first spaces that unlocked meditation. Before exploring yin, I constantly found meditation problematic. I was in the mindest that you had to sit still, rigid back, focused on the moment. As soon as I do that, my mind gets into sabotage space. Of course, there is an argument that’s why it’s good to do for me, but it made learning and establishing a practice problematic. By moving slowly, purposefully at the moment, I found a great space of unthinking, freeing.
One of the ways I do meditate now is by taking time away from my computer, shifting to tending to a plant. I might water it or stand observing it—even the process of repotting a plant I can find incredibly meditative and a moment of reflection. I often time things like that when I have a problem I’m working through at work or something that isn’t flowing.
Making tea is also meditative for me; whilst a minor hit, it can also shift me out of the spiral moment and get me to refocus. There’s a ritual to it; rituals soothe me, so I get not to think performing it and then sit with the tea, reflecting for a moment in that space. Add a short burst of incense burning, and you have a creative shift back to productive space for me.
This is all very personal, though. Everyone has their meditations.