In this third entry in this blog series, I’ll share what I continued to do with this idea of moving meditation and how this played a role in my physical and mental health journey.
I had found a modified form of meditation that was bringing me some insights and awareness that I was seeking through traditional meditation. These moving meditations were helping me to identify some of the unknown triggers of my anxiety and depression. But I was becoming bored with the same walk every day during lunch.
I went deeper with my moving meditations. On days where time would permit, I would walk around a nearby park; here I could see the squirrels gathering food, birds nesting, and I would need to keep my eye out for other wildlife like owls, deer, and rabbits. I looked forward to these walks and could stay in the moment much longer because there was so much more changing around me every day. I could bring a sense of curiosity to my walks, which kept me engaged in the meditation much longer. I was surprised to find myself 30 minutes into a walk and realize that I hadn’t thought about some of the old loops my brain liked to circle.
Over the next few months, I was surprised to find the benefits of this simple exercise. Going
for a walk over my lunchtime, sometimes for just 10 minutes, but longer when I could, was helping me to not only feel more physically fit but also more mentally strong. When I started walking in the park, some hills were really challenging and I found myself winded, which was really frustrating. But much like it was frustrating to meditate and struggle to stay focused, practicing and adapting where needed finally brought meditation more within reach for me. I kept walking and grew stronger physically, much like this moving meditation was making me mentally stronger.
This is all a process that I started and experimented with over the spring and summer of 2020. In my next blog, I’ll share how I started taking this practice further still by setting a big goal that would push all of my limits.
As I’ve shared, this moving meditation started small and grew. My question for you today comes in 2 options:
What is something small (takes less than 2 minutes) that you could start today? What might this small habit become if you continued this investment of time and resources every day?
What is a big goal that you have that you might not be working on right now? Does it feel huge and unachievable? What could be the first baby step to move you closer to this goal?
Either approach you choose to take, the challenge is this… start something beneficial to you today. It doesn’t matter if it’s small. Starting small helps you build momentum when things get tougher.
How will you start to expand and challenge yourself today?
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