Meditation for people with no time to meditate

Meditation and Mindfulness have become extreme ‘buzz words’ lately. People who never gave a second thought to these modalities are now entrenched in workshops and training and retreats teaching these methods and techniques. Mindfulness has become a new way of life among a generation of busyness and constant doing.

Often when we think of meditation, most of us picture a pristine landscape with a person sitting silently looking very peaceful, their eyes closed, a look of contentment on their face. A dedicated practitioner that has made a life commitment to looking inward.

But that isn’t the only kind of meditation, and that ideal picture seems daunting and for most, completely unobtainable. When this exaggerated picture of meditation is thrown up against western culture, the typical response is, ‘I don’t have time for that.’

In a society that suffers horribly from the glorification of being busy, we doubt the fact that slowing down and paying attention is helpful and restful let alone necessary.

Every time I tell people I practice and teach meditation, they usually say something to me like, ‘I can’t sit still long enough to meditate’ or ‘my mind moves way too fast for meditation.’

I used to be one of these people.

My worth and success has been inevitably tied to my work and ability to produce something for half of my life, and I’m sure this is true for millions of others. I’ve always been an on the go person, doing this, doing that, never pausing to pay attention to what I was actually doing at the time.

But what if we could keep doing everything that we’re doing, and not have to make more time in an already busy schedule? What if there was a form of meditation that could happen while we are being busy living our lives, and we don’t have to go to a training or retreat to learn it?

Well, you’re in luck! Because there is a form of meditation that can be practiced anytime and anywhere, even rushing through traffic to your next appointment or walking down a flight of stairs as you leave the grocery store.

It’s called mindfulness.

Mindfulness is the art of paying attention, its tuning in to the present moment and leaning in to whatever our experience is bringing us.

1. Take a deep breath. When we are stressed, our breath turns short and shallow to prepare our body for what it thinks is a survival situation. It may just be that you are stressed because you’re late for a meeting, but your body doesn’t know the difference. When we breathe deeply, we are circulating oxygen into the blood and calming the nervous system, stimulating our automatic response to ‘rest.’ Not only does this help us deal with stress in a healthier way, but it builds our resilience to continue to handle stressful things.
2. Pay attention to what you’re doing. Whether it’s doing the dishes, going to a meeting, or even waiting in line at the store, focusing on one thing at a time is meditation in itself. Pay attention to the movements of your body, the way your feet lift off the ground to propel you forward when you walk, the way the sponge sounds as it hits a plate with soapy water, and even the way you distribute your weight when you stand. Tune in to what’s happening in your body and engage your senses.
3. Lean into the present moment. It’s easy to ‘zone out,’ especially when you are stressed or tired. People zone out while watching TV, doing chores and even during meetings. When you notice that you are zoned out, and bring your attention back to the present moment of what you are doing and feeling, that is mindfulness.
4. Keep coming back. When you notice yourself getting overwhelmed, or caught up in a story, come back. When you notice that you’re driving your car, and are thinking about lists or work or errands, come back to the present moment and drive your car. Take a deep breath, feel your hands on the steering wheel, take in the moment that you are in, and when your mind chatter gets loud, come back.

We don’t have to be sitting on a mountaintop for hours to meditate. We don’t need to close ourselves off to everyday life that is happening right here, right now. If we open ourselves up to the intricacies of everyday life, we will find that there is boundless amounts of space and time for us to take.

In between breaths, in between conversations, and in between the racing thoughts in our head, there are pauses built in. There is peace built in. An automatic scale ready to tip if we are off balance. We just need to pay attention to ourselves and our experiences to find them.