Alternative Meditation: Meditation Hacks for Those of Us Who Hate Sitting Still
Forget cushion confinement. Slip into the senses of the present moment while dancing, running, surfing, coloring, and more.
Meditation and mindfulness are all the rage these days, so for those of us who are antsy or out-of-place while sitting still on a cushion, it can feel like taking medicine. We feel guilty for neglecting a self-care activity we think we “should” do, or left out of the craze, or downright resistant.
If this sounds like you, have no fear. You can still access the essence of meditation and its benefits while jumping around, dancing, running, coloring, and more. And those benefits are plentiful: mindfulness has been used as an intervention to elevate mood and treat depression, anxiety, PTSD, substance use disorders, physical pain … the list goes on.
This is because meditation doesn’t depend on butt-on-cushion contact. Rather, it comes from the practice of paying attention to the present moment. When you start paying attention to your senses in the here and now, you get a bit of distance from that jungle of worries in your head, preoccupied with past and future. There’s less entanglement.
Mark Sisson, in writing about meditation, describes it aptly: “What remains is only the direct experience of the present moment: the hand against the drum, the swelling of a budding wave off toward the horizon, the paddle slipping smoothly into the water, the breath entering and leaving your body. And that’s what truly matters most.”
Here are a few activities for the fidgety folks among us to help us relax, slip into present-moment awareness, and experience life as it unfolds.
Coloring
Adult coloring books are more than just a novelty: they’ve become a popular de-stressing tool. The swirling patterns, the colors, and the repetitive movements that require fine motor control support immersive presence. “I recommend it as a relaxation technique,” said psychologist Antoni Martínez. “We can use it to enter into a more creative, freer state. I recommend it in a quiet environment, even with chill music. Let the color and the lines flow.”
Many adult coloring books feature mandalas — round, with intricate, symmetrical patterns. Carl Jung used mandalas and drawing to understand his patients’ and his own inner worlds in the early 1900’s.
There are hundreds of other adult coloring books to choose from online, from Butterflies and Flowers: Stress Relieving Patterns to Release Your Anger: An Adult Coloring Book with 40 Swear Words to Color and Relax.
Get into nature
Being in nature raises our moods, increases our focus, and even helps us heal faster from physical maladies. Researcher Terry Hartig conducted a study to demonstrate that nature can restore our attention after it’s been drained.
He had subjects do one of three activities after completing a 40-minute battery of attention-draining cognitive tasks. One group went for a walk in nature, one group went for a walk in the city, and one group sat around reading magazines and listening to music. He then tested their attentional capacities with a standard proofreading test.
The result? The group that went into nature was more attentionally restored and also reported being in a better mood than the other two groups.
Moving meditation
If you’re a particularly antsy, active person, you’ll be happy to know that there are plenty of physical activities that support a meditative state.
Surfing has been used as an intervention for veterans to facilitate relief from PTSD. And a survey comparing surfers to the general population found that they are less likely to have depression and anxiety, and less likely to experience strong emotions in reaction to stressful situations.
Doing yoga postures has been shown to improve mood, lower anxiety, and increase GABA levels. And Tai Chi, often called “moving meditation,” has many health benefits similar to meditation, like lowering cardiovascular risk. Researchers suggest that Tai Chi is a mind-body technique that “holds the essence of meditation.”
And you can even meditate while swimming, running, or any other favorite physical activity.
Just remember that the essence of meditation and mindfulness is presence, slowing down, and immersing yourself in your senses with full awareness. So get moving, and get mindful.
