Contrary to how it’s often portrayed, meditation doesn’t necessarily involve sitting in a specific position with your eyes closed. You can meditate almost anytime during the day, especially when you’re doing something that requires little to no thought. Since I started meditating regularly last year, I’ve gradually found ways to turn simple tasks into meditative experiences. I really started thinking about this yesterday while I was folding laundry and listening to this Alan Watts guided meditation. The simple, repetitive nature of the task freed up a lot of mental space and allowed me to think about whatever I liked or, as I did a few times, avoid thinking altogether. During that time, I could observe my thoughts without getting overwhelmed by them, which is the entire purpose of mindfulness meditation.
Doing simple tasks while letting my mind wander can be a powerful practice. I find it easier when I listen to something since a bit of sound helps me focus my thoughts and it can also bring me back to the present moment if I start getting lost in my stream of consciousness. If I’m not listening to anything in particular, then I’ll often talk or think through something that’s on my mind. That’s where I’ve gotten a lot of realizations about things I should do differently my life as well as a lot of ideas for blog posts. It’s also given me a lot of quiet, peaceful moments to practice centering and calming myself, which comes in handy during more turbulent moments.
If you’d like to try this for yourself, then I recommend picking a song or sound that’ll give you some pleasant background noise. Try to use something that you can almost tune out; it should be something that you can use as an occasional anchor for your thoughts if necessary but also light enough and simple enough that you’re not devoting your full attention to it. Once you’ve got the sound in place, breathe slowly and deeply and get lost in whatever activity you’re doing. Your mind may wander or it may settle on a particular thought; either one is fine as both afford you an opportunity to observe your thoughts from a distance. I think you’ll find this to be a pleasant experience and you might even get some cool ideas or insights out of it. If you do try this, I’d love to hear about your experience and if you plan on making it a regular practice.