In these strange times, it’s natural to experience a mix of emotions, including sadness and frustration, as we adapt to the temporary changes and limitations affecting our lives.
However, it’s important to recognize that feelings of grief and fear should not overpower us for an extended period.
Dwelling on fear not only weakens our immune system but can also lower our overall frequency of vibration.
Fortunately, conquering fear is something we can actively pursue in each present moment.
We all possess the power to rewrite our narratives whenever we choose.
By simply bringing ourselves into the present moment, we can effectively release fear from our minds.
While meditation is undoubtedly an excellent practice to cultivate present-moment awareness, there are also small mindful activities you can incorporate into your daily routine to fully engage with the here and now.
Take a moment to ground yourself, feeling the solidness of your feet on the ground, taking deep breaths, and consciously observing your surroundings—every sound, every movement, every detail.
This is a powerful practice to adopt whenever fear enters your thoughts.
By staying present, we can let go of fear and regain a sense of empowerment and clarity.
Find another Focus.
Meditation is about focus and being present.
If you haven’t meditated in a while and you’re feeling bad about it, try switching up meditation for another activity that requires focus.
Make the decision to turn off your phone for just 5 minutes.
Don’t surf the web, don’t scroll Facebook. Just simply sit and listen to the sounds you hear around you.
Maybe it’s birdsong, wind in the trees or maybe it’s your neighbors shouting, traffic noise, or a cement mixer.
It could be annoying or it could be beautiful, just listen to it all the same.
Don’t do anything else other than sit and listen to what you hear.
For 5 whole minutes if you can.
See how it feels to be undistracted in this way and notice any changes in the mind that come from this practice.
Use Sense Stimulation
You can use your senses to ground yourself into the present moment.
Think about taking a walk outside in nature, having a warm bath with essential oils detoxifying salts, or getting a massage.
You can even use therapeutic touch through self-massage with warm essential oils.
Choosing to stimulate your senses is a really nice way to bring you into the moment. Just a few minutes each day will bring your body and mind into a synchronistic state, which is one of the end results of a great meditation session.
Become absorbed in a task
Cooking, gardening, painting or even cleaning are great present-moment grounding tasks that can take our attention away from our troubles and give us the same quality of focus found in meditation.
Choose your favorite pastime and set aside half an hour to get absorbed and engaged in it.
If you are gardening, perhaps you repot some plants or prune some flowers.
If you want to bake something, give it all your attention, and bring yourself into the reality of the moment as you measure the flour and stir in the sugar.
This kind of concentrated focus can be a shortcut to a meditative state of mind, one that is more centered and aware.
If all of the above fails, stop for a minute, and breathe deeply.
Feel the oxygen filling your lungs and leaving your body in a steady rhythm. Keep your mind there for as long as it feels possible.
Once you do these little tasks more often, you might find that the next time you sit down to meditate, it feels a little easier.
You’ll remember how you were able to focus on those sounds, or that gardening task, or how your walk in nature made you feel connected to the Universe.
A meditation practice is not about struggling to achieve anything, it is nothing more than a state of present-moment awareness.
We tend to think that our minds are so loud and full of chatter that we cannot imagine how to ever get them quiet.
Why not think of it this way instead?
They are already quiet. Our minds are inherently quiet, we create and bring the noise ourselves.
And that’s just fine, nobody except maybe some truly Zen master can quiet their minds all the time.
Life is about noise and emotions, it’s about being moved by different experiences like ripples on a pond in a breeze.
Meditation is not about stopping those ripples, but it is about learning that that’s what they are.
They do not have to be all we see. There is something on the other side of them.
A quiet power that we can understand lives within us all the time.
Trying these meditation alternatives can teach you to find the essence of what makes meditation so beneficial throughout your day in other ways.
You’ll be able to experience the amazing benefits that come with just a few moments of focus each day.
