Beyond Meditation: Practical Alternatives For Mindful Living

Meditation is known as a technique where one can bring oneself to peace. A simple process where a person sits in a lotus position or on a chair closes their eyes, and breathes in rhythm. After doing it for some time the brain and body become less tense. It acts as a reset for those feeling unbalanced. However, some do not like meditation as they feel it may not benefit them. But breathing properly is essential for one to live and stay alive since oxygen is something the body depends on. Breathing is a precursor to many physiological processes in the body. The parasympathetic nervous system is activated through correct breathing. This is responsible for keeping the person relaxed and best of all it enhances digestive processes (This is critical for well-being and intelligence). 

Although, some assume meditation is supposed to solve people’s problems. It will not fix a person’s current situation since certain issues need to be handled differently. It does solve one problem which is the individual’s being distracted, by themselves. Oftentimes people need to be still in order to look at a predicament and use logical thinking to resolve it. It is difficult to produce solutions with stress and too much thoughts. But there are a plethora of methods to maintain peace of mind or at least induce it. Remember the breath has its importance. 

Meditation Alternatives 

• Balancing exercises: Tree Pose, Warrior 3, Frog Stance, Dancer Pose, Forearm side balance. Hold 30 seconds for each side doing these. These are some examples to start with. Adding more exercises is optional. 
• Stretching: Tightness is the enemy, consistently stretching the whole body can help.
• Walking: It is beneficial to walk outside since the individual will inhale fresh oxygen and be exposed to natural resources. On top of this walking is calming and does not strain the body.
• Sitting still without anything in sight: Sit outdoors or indoors and only sit still with nothing in front (Digital devices for example). This helps one to feel less tension and to regain energy. Too much in mind leads to fatigue. Basically, just sit and do nothing for a short period of time (5 or minutes). 
• Malasana: Get in position,  breathe, and hold the position as long as possible. 
• Writing: Writing is therapeutic on many levels. Writing helps organize and clean up thoughts. It can be questions, answers, or whatever comes to mind. 
• Tai chi: This is interesting. This is an exercise which requires a person to move slowly. It’s like moving meditation. 

These are quite simple methods to perform other than meditation. The purpose is to reduce friction within, in other words, to relieve tension. What is advantageous about these activities are it keeps the mind aware and primed for concentration. A sporadic mind does more harm than good and with that in mind (no pun intended). The individual themselves ends up being confused which affects the brain processing efforts. 

If wanting to improve cognitive function check out this post!

How Can One Get Into Meditation?

The simplicity of enacting a certain activity is to only get involved. Meditation is commonly associated as a remedy for anxiety and depression. Although, it helps in preventing or suppressing those issues. But ultimately it is considered the “the way of life” the regulation of the breath centers the person in place. As mentioned it keeps one aware of their mind and body. If interested in starting meditation a lotus pose is not required but is recommended since it enhances the experience. There are different ways a person can meditate but simply begin by sitting down in a lotus pose or a chair. Do keep the spine erect since posture is important. Close the eyes and breathe in and out. Ensure it is slow-paced breaths and pay attention to the breathing. 

Some tips:

• Do not worry about how long meditation has to be. It is an experience.
• If having too many distractions in the mind. Bring the attention back to the breath or take large inhales and increase the length of the exhales. For example, Inhale slowly for 5 seconds and exhale for 5 to 7 seconds slowly. 
• When waking slowly, open the eyes. 
• Do not meditate on a full stomach. the body’s energy is redirected toward the digestive process, which includes the secretion of digestive enzymes and the movement of food through the gastrointestinal tract.
• Meditating on an empty or lightly filled stomach is recommended to create optimal conditions for focused and alert meditation. It allows for better concentration and comfort.
• When inhaling the stomach should expand, when exhaling the stomach should shrink. 

Wrap up

There are a plethora of methods one could take instead of doing meditation. However, meditation is an option if anyone is interested in doing so. The purpose is to recenter oneself and to not have an unorganized mind. As mentioned, other alternatives help to organize themselves such as writing, stretching, walking, and others. There may be many distractions around a lot of people but the individuals themselves need to be aware and concentrated. With too much in mind, the brain has to use many mental resources to process which can lead to strain and fatigue in the individual. Best to incorporate some of these practices daily to condition themselves to achieve stability. 

If you found the post helpful, please share and subscribe!