Photo by Nat Sakunworarat.
Research continues to pile up showing the considerable benefits of meditation. Psychologists have discovered that regular meditation helps with focus, stress management, and anxiety, and for many people, offers help comparable to taking prescription medication, without any of the undesirable side effects. But as Dr. Nate Klemp points out in a post on mindbodygreen, a lot of people don’t meditate regularly because they don’t think they have the time.
Dr. Klemp notes that this assumption isn’t exactly correct — it’s based on the idea that the only way to meditate is to find a quiet, private location where you can sit in silence at length. And although that type of meditation is probably most effective, he says, there are other ways to meditate that still deliver benefits. For instance, most people walk somewhere at some point during their workday. With a little practice, they can use that time to meditate. Here are the steps in brief:
- NOTICE by creating a cue. You need to create a cue to remind you to meditate on your walk. If you walk to lunch regularly, your cue might be stepping outside into the sunlight. “The goal here,” Dr. Klemp writes, “is to build a mental association with this daily cue so that it begins to remind you, almost automatically, to start meditating.”
- SHIFT by redirecting your attention. The next step is to move your mind away from the thoughts filling your mind to awareness of the present moment. “Notice the cars whizzing by in a blur. Listen to the sounds of the birds, the wind, or the construction crew jackhammering,” Dr. Klemp says. “Try to do all of this without judgment. See if you can just watch and listen to everything that is happening without labeling it as good or bad.”
- REWIRE by keeping your attention on the present. Your mind will wander when you practice Step 2 — it will wander again and again. “When this happens,” Dr. Klemp says, “simply notice and, without judgment, bring your mind back to the sights and sounds of the present moment.”
This is a simple but powerful way to begin practicing meditation routinely. For more details, read Dr. Klemp’s post. Namaste!