Meditation Intimidation

Typically, the word "meditation" conjures up images of a still mind, steady breath, calm face, in a seemingly unbelievable, supposedly [insert air quotes here] comfortable [and here] sitting position. I think that's why meditation seems almost intimidating to most; it sure did for me. That was, until the teacher for  my high school Word Religion class introduced a lovely concept called walking meditation. 


She [the teacher; I'm terrible with names and cannot for the life of me recall it at the moment, sorry!] had the class walk around the school three times. Before we set off, she gave us a few guidelines: 1) You can walk along the sidewalk, or closer to the building; whichever you prefer. 2) You can walk at whatever pace you'd like. 3) Take time to notice things; the temperature, leaves on the ground, birds chirping, etc. 4) Return to class when you've walked your three laps.

Now, this having happened around a decade ago;  I can't remember the details about the presumably turtle-paced walk around the school other than it was a nice, relaxing walk outside, rather than doing paperwork; that alone was enough to make any student happy. That's not the point though, the point is, this little exercise opened up my eyes and showed me that the typical way I thought of meditation is not the only way. There are other styles of meditation, and like everything else, there's something for everyone, I just had to find my style. 

Currently, I have a very loose definition of meditation. Simply put, as cliche as it sounds: be in the moment. Take in each moment as it comes, and let each moment go as it passes. Walking a mile turns into the left foot going in front of the right foot, 2000 times. Doing the dishes turns into washing one after the other until the task is done. Whatever you do, do it well, do it slowly and deliberately with intent. Sync your body with your mind.

Whenever I find that my mind has wandered off from the task at hand, not only have I noticed that's when I become more accident-prone, but I'll also typically end up having to re-do what I just did mindlessly. To prevent these little frustrations or possible accidents, I've realized a good, deep breath or three usually brings my mind back from wherever it went wandering. There's a time and a place for everything; sometimes it's good to let your mind wander, sometimes it's not.