50 Ways to Meditate
I've recently started to swim a couple of times a week. I've always loved swimming, but never made it a regular hobby. I took my boys to baby swimming classes from about 6 months old as I know how important it is as a life saving skill, and also how much fun children (and adults!) have splashing around, jumping in and generally mucking about in the water once they are competent swimmers.
But there's something else that I notice when I swim, it's a quietness, a focus and an ease.
I don't swim fast, I do put my head under the water, I favour breaststroke and I don't count the lengths. I just enjoy 'swimming' for the time I have available on that particular day.
When I swim it takes me to that quiet space of being that happens in meditation or deep relaxation. My mind quietens and I can just be with the action of 'swimming', of being in the present moment, and when my mind does wander, or I have to carefully swim around my fellow swimmers, I just gently come back to 'swimming' again. I move into the flow.
This of course can happen with any activity we enjoy doing and get caught up in, when we are deeply focused. Children often drop into this deep state when they are playing, when they are in their own inner world. This is a spontaneous drop into flow, and can happen anytime. How nice that we have all had a meditative experience without trying!
If we want to use a loved activity to meditate, we have to have the intention that we are meditating.
We have to use the action of the activity to bring an awareness of the present moment. I can't mindlessly swim and let my mind wander about and call it meditating. But when I actively (and gently) bring my awareness back to the action of swimming whenever my mind wanders, I am actively coming back to the present moment and can say that I am meditating.
We have to have present moment awareness.
What activity might you do that you could bring some active meditation to? All you need to do is focus gently on the action of what you are doing and keep coming back to the action when the mind wanders off. The action of what you are doing is in the present moment.
Here's a list of ideas, did you know you could meditate in so many ways?!
In the morning
In the evening
In your lunch break
Inside
Outside
Sitting on a chair
Sitting on a cushion
Lying down
Standing up
Walking
Swimming
Running
Knitting
Fishing
Gardening
In the shower
In the bath
On the bus
In a queue
At home
At work
On the school run
Walking the dog
For 5 mins
For 10 mins
For 30 mins
Washing up
Ironing
Cooking
With sounds
With a mantra
With a candle
With an image
With the breath
In a quiet place
In a busy place
With your eyes open
With your eyes closed
On your own
With a friend
With a group
Using an app
Listening to a guided practice
Guiding yourself
Watching the rain
Watching the traffic
Playing with your child
Formally
Informally
Spontaneously
If you find it hard, then learning to meditate in a formal seated way would be the next step. Once you have the simple tools to meditate sitting still on a chair, you can then take the tools into action, into your activities and it can make it easier.
Try reading Mick TImpson's book 'Making Happy Work' for simple tools to learn to meditate. Or join one of my meditation courses.
There's been a surge in cold water swimming recently due to it's health benefits and also no doubt in part to being able to do it outside whilst indoor swimming was not available during the pandemic.
Swimming in cold water is not my thing, I'm happy indoors in the warm with a jacuzzi to finish off my 'me' time!