Not a Fan of Meditation? Try These 3 Fun Activities Instead to Spark the Joy of Being Present
Try them out and let your mental health thank you later
From 6th to 10th grade, I attended a school where meditation was a part of the curriculum.
We all had to participate in two 15-minute meditation sessions — one in the morning before classes and another after school hours.
I have to confess, “I was never able to do it in school days because being rebellious seemed more fun and exciting as kids.”
The urge to sneak a peek at what others were doing was far more exciting than the supposed calming effects of meditation.
Even today, as an adult who understands the holistic wellness benefits of meditation, I still struggle to include it in my daily routine.
I’d tried doing body scans coupled with deep breathing, but ultimately, I felt I couldn’t do it long enough because it seemed like a passive activity that I was resistant to doing regularly.
I also don’t think when I feel anxious or have another overthinking bout, meditation is the first thing I want to try. I feel it agitates me even more if I try forcing myself to meditate in those moments.
Later, I discovered a 2017 study by Britton, et al. revealed similar challenges faced by some meditators (that are mostly overlooked), like fear, pain, dizziness, paranoia, hypersensitivity to light or sound, panic, etc.
I’m not writing this to scare you about meditation. If it’s working for you, kudos! Continue doing it to have a better lifestyle.
Since it wasn’t working for me, I tried finding out what else I could do to experience the benefits of mindfulness.
In this article, I’ll share the scientifically proven activities that have worked incredibly well for me to experience the joy of being present.
If you’re also looking for some fun and creative alternatives to meditation, this article is for you.
1. Art Journaling
I was obsessed with Pinterest in 2020. It was a time of the coronavirus pandemic, and due to lockdown, the same old boring routine was going on:
- Waking up late in the morning,
- Logging in to start my work hours from 10 am to 6 pm,
- Doing the same mundane day-to-day tasks.
While scrolling through Pinterest one night, I found an ASMR video of tearing coloured papers, ripping washi tape, and pasting them creatively on a journal. It was followed by using color pens and markers to make it more creative.
Later, I discovered it’s called art journaling- a creative practice that encourages self-expression through your unique creativity. Here, you can use various mediums like:
- Pens, colors, washi tapes
- Make a DIY space in your journal with scrap papers, old pictures
- Paste tickets, photos, sticky notes, or any momentos.
The main intention behind art journaling is to embrace the “process of doing” instead of focusing on the result.
I’ve always been a DIY creativity fan. I used to make birthday cards, dreamcatchers, photo Rubik’s Cube, and many more handmade gifts for my friends.
So, I already had beautiful colored papers, glitter pens, and a few other items in my collection.
- I was tempted to try the art journal layouts I discovered on Pinterest.
- I did it a few times on loose papers, and I fell in love with the process.
- I also took a workshop on art journaling, an amazing session.
Later, I prepared one entire journal, which I gifted to my BFF. The best part was I did everything on my own, starting from scratch:
- Took equal-sized A-4 sheets,
- Sewed them together,
- Used an old diary cardboard to cover my pages and make a new journal.
- Covered the journal with blue chart paper and drew a beautiful love tree on it
- Used our pictures, movie tickets we watched together, some personal notes, and whatnot.
While preparing this journal, I devoted around 2 hours every day for 2 months.
While working on it, I didn’t have any urge to use my phone or fall into any other physical or mental distraction. I loved doing it and felt completely present in the moment without trying too hard to do that.
Psychologist Cathy Malchiodi also recommends art journaling as a destressing and self-soothing practice, especially for trauma survivors.
It also helps in processing your emotions, reducing anxiety, boosting your creativity and authenticity, reported VOS experts.
2. Doodling
A few years ago, one of my college friends started her Instagram page showcasing her artistic talent.
She has shared some of her drawings, which were basically some random shapes and repetitive patterns.
Those illustrations seemed complicated but were easy to draw. Watching her videos led me to more such accounts that created these kinds of artistic designs, called doodles.
They really piqued my interest, and I wanted to try them out.
I still remember the first piece I drew was just some faces inside random shapes, not something I’m very proud of, but I enjoyed drawing them.
Later, I learned to draw more such art forms that don’t need artistic talent but allow you to experience a few moments of mindfulness and calm, like Mandala and Zentangles.
Here’s how you can do it:
- Take a blank sheet and a pen
- Start scribbling simple shapes of varying sizes
- Draw or write whatever comes to your mind
- Connect these illustrations by filling in more detail if you feel like it
- Shush your inner critic and allow yourself to make some mistakes while doodling.
The main thing is you don’t have to strive for perfection. It’s all about enjoying the process and being in the moment, letting your mind flow.
No matter how crazy this sounds, doodling is praised for its healing effects on mental and emotional health.
Author Carol Edmonston shared with Forbes Health how she found comfort and optimism in doodling while fighting breast cancer twice.
A few more scientific benefits of doodling are:
- Improves attention and memory retention
- Enhances problem-solving ability
- Allows you to process and articulate emotions
- Uplifts mood and helps in relaxing and unwinding.
3. Decluttering
Tidying up and organizing my space is my self-love language.
When people are busy scrolling relationship reels and cute cat videos, I pause to watch DIY hacks to organize my wardrobe, declutter my workstation, etc.
In 2021, I watched the Netflix series — “Tidying Up With Marie Kondo.” It brought me even closer to my passion for keeping my space well-managed.
Marie, a professional tidying expert helps people organize their homes by following the rule “Tidy by Category, Not by Location”.
She explains in the series to categorize household items into clothes, books, papers, komono (miscellaneous items) and sentimental items.
Then, go ahead with organizing one category at a time (mostly in the same order as mentioned above) to manage your entire house without getting overwhelmed.
Watching the show helped me learn to
- Let go of my hoarder mentality, and allowed me to discard those items that no longer served their purpose
- Create enough storage spaces within my small closet
- Fold clothes in a certain way, and use boxes or storage units to hold similar clothes together in a way that they’re easily located
- Deal with items that hold sentimental value, be it letters, clothes, or a gift, by focusing on what I really want to keep and how I want to use it in my space or life ahead.
Decluttering feels therapeutic to me; the process might be tiring sometimes, but the results always spark a joy for me.
- I feel happy, calm, and positive in an organized space
- It uplifts my mood and state of mind.
Other benefits of decluttering are increased self-worth, productivity, better sleep, and relaxation, confirms neuropsychologist Diane Roberts Stoler.
Bottom Line
You might not be able to mediate, but that shouldn’t stop you from practicing mindfulness and finding moments of calmness amid chaos.
I’ve found 3 scientifically proven activities that can improve your mental health without having years and years of practice.
Allocate a few minutes from your busy schedules to try these simple activities to enjoy the art of being present and have multiple mental health benefits.
- Art journaling to reduce your anxiety and stress while boosting your creativity and ability to process emotions
- Doodling to improve your focus, mood, and problem-solving skills and express your emotions better.
- Decluttering to get better mental clarity, productivity, and sleep.
I hope you find these practices helpful in making the most of the present moment while enhancing your mental and emotional peace.
