We often hear phrases like, ‘going to the gym is my therapy’ or ‘running is my meditation’, even, ‘training sorts my head out’.
It’s always great when we can make those mind body connections outside the confines of the yoga studio or the latest bio hacking app- but is it meditation?
Well, no but that’s not coming from a place of yoga snobbery.
Undeniable evidence and experience shows us that any movement or exercise is full of positive effects for our mental health and can have vast benefits but as meditation teacher Michael Wong simply puts it, activities aren’t meditation, activities are activities and meditation is meditation.
Life is busy and lots of life advice books push us into doing more, more, more and filling every moment with a never ending tick list from healthy vitamin shot drinks to advocating the 5am club to habit stacking. (as a reluctant member of the pre 5am club for work, honestly its not that amazing, stay in bed).
So I totally understand why we feel good after moving and want it to also be meditation. 2-4-1. What a bargain. Hell, it may well be very mindful and meditative, it may feel incredible and like it’s fixed you but therapy is therapy, meditation is meditation and no amount of brief feel good factor will change that. Although, I do think there is a place for a walking meditation (which is really guided mindfulness) as an entry point to tuning in and slowing down to absorb and be.
It’s a truth commonly acknowledged that the very best thing for us and the very worst thing to actually do are meditations, just sitting with yourself.
Being with yourself and your thoughts, the traffic jams and collisions of the mind- and sitting through it.
The thought of that almost makes sitting through a kids nativity appealing but with yoga and meditation we are looking to check in not check out.
And there is annoyingly no major high, satisfaction or smug sense of achievement. It’s not something you can boast about, drop into conversation or even take a picture of. It’s one of those sneaky improvements that you never really notice, best to think of it as part of your daily hygiene routine like washing your face and cleaning your teeth.
Find a way.
Start with one minute.
Those personal bests didn’t show up on day one of training and they won’t with meditation but you can show up for yourself- 10 slow breaths, right now, let’s go.