Earlier this week I was in Washington, DC with activists from the Multiple Sclerosis Society for our annual Advisory Board Committee meeting. At dinner one night, a neurologist on that Committee talked about prescribing exercise and meditation to all of his patients. Many others I spoke with over the two days talked about how difficult they found meditation – “just trying to sit still with an empty mind is impossible” was the over theme.
But, meditation is not just sitting in a lotus posture…trying to empty your thinking mind is also extremely difficult without some sort of grounding or feeling your body.
Meditation can be movement; it really can be anything with the right intention and mindset.
To get started, I suggest doing some form of movement that gets you more into your body. Intestine exercises are a great way to move into feeling your body; that’s why we often do them early in class. You can also do some tapping under your belly button (second chakra area) or even some vertical and horizontal vibration like we do in class. Then its a little easier to sit quietly, and I suggest starting by focusing on feeling your breath moving in and out of your chest and belly.
Don’t worry – thoughts will pop up, it’s totally normal. Just shift your focus back to your body or breath.
Even 5 to 10 minutes of that can really help your mood and stress levels. If you have questions, or want to learn more, come to a class or drop me a note.