Motion Meditation

Meditation shows undoubted benefits, however in the last few decades, many have attempted to redefine what it actually is and how it should be done. Meditation is not a complicated practice, yet it can feel complex for those who find it challenging to remain still. Dandapani, a meditation and focus guru, defines meditation as meeting with your energy. He explains that meditation is a practice that involves sitting still, closing your eyes, and systematically withdrawing your awareness inward in a focused way. This can be done while cross-legged or seated in a chair. Simple exercise yes, but not often easy to do, especially for those of us who have some difficulty in complete body stillness. If prolonged stillness seems particularly difficult, there are Motion-Based Meditation practices available.

A simple movement-based meditation is a sneaky way to include subtle motion when you feel challenged in stillness-based meditation practices. You can still reap the benefits of meditation and you’re sure to notice its positive outcomes if you start small and stick with it. Jill Miller, creator of Self-care formats, Yoga Tune Up, and Pioneer in forging relevant links between the worlds of movement and pain management shares more on this type of practice. Miller provides a brief script in her book that describes a simple step-by-step motion meditation. You can choose your timing based on your tolerance and circumstance. In her recent book - Body by Breath she shares that you can try it for as long as 20 minutes or for just a few minutes. She continues on expressing the most novel thing of this exercise: It can be done in absolutely any position and requires no props.

Try it out below.

1. Choose a tolerable position, seated, reclined, gentle slope, or other.

2. Set a timer for 2, 5, 10, or even 20 minutes.

3. Reset the back side of your arms on your thighs if seated or on the floor if reclined. Close one hand into a fist and leave the other hand open.

4. After starting your timer, slowly close your open hand at the same time you open your closed hand. This extremely slow singular motion fills the duration of the practice.

The ability to stay in the present moment is a major component of mental wellness. This mini but mighty practice can be the catapult to being engaged in the moment, which builds the capacity to be mindful.

Written by Jen Shifler, ECE, RYT, ytt