“There is nothing so terrible as activity without insight.”
~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 18th-century German Writer & Philosopher
Someone says “Meditation.”
Do you think “Om?”
No fault there, most of us think of sitting quietly in the sun next to a placid lake when we hear about meditation. This is normal considering the big bucks that go into the “Feel good and escape the rat race” industry nowadays.
They want you to believe that meditation requires a perfectly peaceful, luxury-filled lifestyle, a highly organized and beautiful environment. They are setting you up for failure.
But why would they do that you ask?
Because it is simple monetary psychology.
People are willing to pay for that which they believe they do not or cannot have. Why spend money to achieve a feeling or a reality that you believe you already have?
Make Yoga or Pilates or Meditation seem appealing to the masses and then convince those masses that they NEED certain THINGS in order to have that appealing reality in their lives…instant rags to riches story.
But what if the truth was that you can be active and be busy and get things done and still achieve the benefits of meditation?
That would make it so much more convenient wouldn’t it? If you needed only your mind and nothing else to meditate…I bet you would do it more often.
You would?
Well good! Because that is the truth of it, meditation is free for everyone, no glitz, no gimmicks just your own mind required.
Meditating sitting down in a quiet, peaceful, beautiful, epic environment is optimal of course. But you try and get that in today’s world on a daily basis.
What is more likely is that you can fit in a few minutes of “you” time when you are up to other things.
Walking the dog is a perfect time for meditation.
Knitting a baby shower gift is great too.
Washing the dishes? Again, get in a short meditation.
Paying bills? Meditate on drawing prosperity to you.
Painting the bathroom can be an excellent time for meditating on beauty or on change.
Jogging in a 5k? Then tie on those trainers for inner peace.
Cooking food is a fantastic occasion for meditating on health and connection to nature.
What elements do you need for your activity to become a meditation?
Well, to be honest meditation, even in its highest form, is a simple thing. We meditate to calm our mind, to connect our spirit to our body, to our actions. We meditate to honor breath and aliveness, connection to spirit and nature.
Mindfulness, ie. putting spirit and intention into each and every small movement, small thought of our life, is the main goal of meditation.
So, focus your intent on being a spiritual being who is carrying out a physical activity, and Voila! You have meditation.
If you shake cinnamon into your recipe, make yourself aware, peacefully, of your connection to the country and the plant and the human being from which that cinnamon is sourced.
If you are rollerskating in the sun, consciously connect yourself to each stretch and twitch of muscle as you move. Purposefully set-up a give-and-take of energy between you and those sun rays.
Know that every activity has an element of growth, of energy, of awareness within it.
By allowing yourself to be a mindful participant in these exchanges, you are strengthening your awareness as a spiritual being having a physical experience.
You are strengthening your true self and allowing that inner person to fill the moment of even the most mundane activities.
By all means, if you get the chance, then say “Om” on the beach in Tahiti.
But know that the tranquility is from the beauty within you, not from the beautiful view.
