How to Actively Meditate For Lower Stress

Summary

The web content introduces active meditation techniques as effective methods for stress reduction, offering alternatives to traditional still meditation.

Abstract

The article discusses various forms of meditation, emphasizing active meditation as a practical approach for those who find traditional still meditation challenging. It outlines different types of meditation, including mindful, concentration, transcendental, and movement meditation, but focuses on two active techniques: Sweeping House Meditation and a 40-minute Active Meditation routine involving stages of fast breathing, wild dancing, and complete relaxation. The author suggests these methods for quick stress relief and recommends a resource for further reading.

Opinions

The author believes that meditation is not limited to sitting still and clearing the mind, suggesting that active meditation can be more accessible and beneficial for stress management.
Active meditation is presented as a simpler and less time-consuming alternative to traditional meditation practices.
The author endorses "The New Meditation Handbook" for a comprehensive understanding of the Sweeping House Meditation technique.
The Active Meditation technique is described as physically demanding and potentially exhausting, yet it is also portrayed as a fun and spontaneous way to release energy and achieve relaxation.
The article implies that meditation can be tailored to individual preferences and needs, with the possibility of skipping certain stages in the Active Meditation routine once proficient.
The author encourages readers to share their experiences with meditation and expresses interest in hearing about other techniques.

Meditation isn’t just sitting still and clearing your mind — here’s some unusual versions to try.

Meditation — you probably think you know all about that and aren’t that interested in completely clearing your mind since, well, that’s REALLY hard to do for most of us. However, meditation isn’t ONLY that. In fact, there are several categories of meditation that have nothing to do with emptying your mind. I thought I’d take some time today to introduce you to a few that you likely have never even heard of.

Types of Meditation

There are several categories of meditation including:

Mindful Meditation — This type of meditation involves bringing your awareness to present-moment, here-and-now sensations in the body or mental activities. It is designed to focus on nonjudgmental awareness.

Concentration Meditation — This type is probably the one you assumed I’d be talking about in this article. It involves being very passive and focusing on a certain stimulus such as breathing, a single word, or some other object. An example of this is mirror gazing in which the person sits in front of a mirror and gazes at their reflection for 20 or more minutes.

Transcendental Meditation — In this type of meditation, the goals is to focus on a word or thought which is called the mantra without actually trying to concentrate on it. This one I’m leaving to the pros to teach you since I’m not sure I can explain that concept and if I can’t do it, I don’t think I should try to teach you how to do it either.

Movement Meditation — This is the active type I really wanted to introduce you to today. It involved incorporating physical movement and potentially exercise into mental focus. Examples of this includes yoga and the walking meditation that is often practiced in Zen Buddhism.

There are two meditations that I find useful and more active than the traditional versions which I want to focus on today. I should make it clear that it’s not because I don’t think the others are beneficial but simply because they are simpler and less time consuming and give a quick reset for stress levels.

Sweeping House Meditation — This is an easy one that can be used to quickly declutter our thoughts. For a full description of this, I recommend reading the Meditation Handbook. However, I’m going to give it to you in a nutshell here. Essentially you begin by putting both of your hands behind your head and interlocking your fingers at the base of your skull so that your head is resting against them. Then you slowly sweep your hands up and over the back of your head as you imagine that they are gathering up all of the stress, thoughts, anxiety, heaviness, etc and sweeping them with them. When your hands reach your forehead you unlock your fingers and flick them outward as if throwing water off your fingertips. Try to picture tensions and stress being swept up and discarded. Repeat this three to seven times as needed to keep your head clear and focused.

Active Meditation — Another technique covered in the handbook which can be used for stress reduction (assuming you are in reasonably good health with a normal cardiovascular system). This one is more physically strenuous so if you are in doubt, get a good physical before trying it if you haven’t been regularly exercising. To try it out, find a safe spot that is free of furniture, clutter, or anything else that might get in your way. (Give yourself space as if you are putting on that VR headset and about to do something active like The Climb.) It doesn’t matter if it’s outside on soft grass or indoors on soft carpet, but find a space and create a safety zone. This method is really simple with three stages of practice (altogether this takes 40 minutes).

Stage 1 (10 minutes): Stand with your eyes closed and breathe deep and fast. For the time being forget what you know about breathing slow and regular and, instead, gather up some heat in the movement of breathing. If 10 minutes seems too long, it’s ok to shorten this to 5 without any guilt. While you are breathing just let your body move however it feels. Some people sway or jump up and down but you can do anything you like that helps you get the oxygen in and out.

Stage 2 (20 minutes): This is the fun (somewhat exhausting) stage of wild and spontaneous dancing. Let yourself go wild and dance like no one in the world can see you. Move however you want in energetic ways — be spontaneous and free. This is a lot of exercise, so if you feel your energy lagging, you are free to return to Stage 1 to recover more energy.

Stage 3 (10 minutes): Complete relaxation/quiet. Flop down on the ground and let go. Close your eyes and feel the Earth turn underneath you and enjoy the energy you have just released.

With practice, some who practice the active meditation can actually skip the first two stages and just go straight to laying on the ground and feeling complete relaxation.

Have you tried meditation? What was your experience. Would love to hear if you try these or other techniques.