The misconception about meditation is that it’s hard. The truth is that all you need is a firm commitment to be better, and that’s a good starting point as any. One technique, the meditation-in-action, will allow you to relax and grow as you remain active. It’s a spontaneous activity that will bring insight into the flow of life, and how we should stop resisting its natural flow.
How long should you do it?
While some meditation techniques can take as briefly as a few minutes, meditation-in-action is best done for as long as an hour. It can even be the basis of a day’s worth of retreat.
How does it work?
The idea is to set aside a few hours, maybe even an entire day, to simply do what you want to do. You can do it in the comfort of your own home or a place where you usually spend a lot of time. It’s not about dong a special project or starting to take an important trip: it’s more of leaving things out in the open and doing what you want to do in the precise moment that you are supposed to do it.
In other words, don’t plan ahead: leave things in the open, and once you don’t feel like doing something anymore, simply stop and move on to the next project.
As you start your meditation, let go of any idea of what you think you should or what needs to be done, as this will only lead to stress and pressure. Just do whatever you naturally eel like doing. Follow your impulse.
Sometimes, you will judge yourself and even feel guilty about setting aside this time. This will serve as a reminder that you’ve become too tied to your chores, and have lost yourself in the process.
Along your way and into the meditative process, you will find yourself simply sitting or lying down doing practically nothing. Other times you will suddenly find yourself ticking off things in your to-do list. If you do this spontaneously, you will feel completely different, as if you’re doing things because you want to and not because you have to.
There’s a distinct sense of freedom and relief in just letting the moment flow and letting yourself be. This is the essence of meditation-in-action: being true to your core and doing things not according to plan, but according to your nature.
