15 Alternatives to Sitting Meditation

No longer the sole province of the hemp-swathed sprouting enthusiast, meditation’s popularity has exploded across our collective faces. Tech companies have embraced mindfulness meditation as the ultimate productivity. Google has “mindful lunches,” complete with prayer bells and hour-long vows of silence. And as legitimate meditation researchers uncover more benefits to our brains, our bodies, and our psyches, diehard rationalists have been forced to accept the scientific merits of mindfulness.

My explanation for why interest in meditation has grown is that it’s a replacement for the nature in which we no longer reside. For hundreds of thousands of years, we spent our days in natural settings where much of the mind chatter stops and we exist in the present moment. The falling leaves sparkling overhead with sunlight. The herky-jerk scamper of a startled lizard just off the trail. The erratic brilliant butterfly fluttering through the scene that you can’t help but stop to watch. That was life for most of human history. It wasn’t special. It was home. It’s what we knew.

Meditation represents a return to that ancestral state of presence in the moment. And yet I get the sense that more people are talking about meditation than actually meditating on a regular basis. I’m one of them, quick to recommend meditation on MDA because of the irrefutable benefits but unable to actually sit for a productive session, let alone a regular meditation routine. It’s hard. It’s unnatural. And it’s an artifice, albeit one made necessary by our environment.

Meditation has been shown to provide remarkable benefits to those who manage to stick with it, including but not limited to:

• Lengthening of telomeres.
• Upregulation of genes responsible for energy metabolism, longevity, mitochondrial function, inflammation, and insulin secretion.
• Blood pressure normalization.
• Stress reduction.
• Greater resistance to stress.
• Improved cognitive function by reshaping the actual brain.
• Promoting neuroplasticity.
• Anxiety reduction.
• Immune system improvements.

If we simply don’t enjoy meditation or can’t make it work, what options do we have? How can we get some of those attractive effects of meditation without actually sitting in a room for 30 minutes a day, every day? Here are 15 alternatives:



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Collective-EvolutionCollective Evolution October 14, 2015 by Alexa Erickson. We all know the detriments of putting ourselves down. When we tell ourselves we’re not good enough too many times, we truly begin to believe it, and for many people, mornings aren’t the easiest. The feeling of getting out of bed to exercise, go to work, or take on any other responsibility we feel obligated to do is tough. But that’s because we make it tough. We tell ourselves Mondays are the worst. We tell ourselves it’s too early to exercise. Thoughts begin to circulate in our heads regarding all the things we have to do, all the things we should be doing, and all the things we actually want to do but don’t feel like we deserve or have time for. This negativity only brings on stress. We get into such a groove of doing this, of complaining about our Monday through Fridays, that we tend to live for moments, like the weekends or vacations, to get us through the rest of our days. But what we should be doing is living for every day. So how can you change your morning around? Mantras are words or phrases meant to be chanted either internally or out loud as a means of meditating. They originated about 3,000 years ago in India, at least to the Vedic tradition, in which they were used to influence and control the gods. Throughout history, they have continued to be used in various ways to promote transformation. In our modern day Western world, they are often seen as a means to shifting our perspectives in order to welcome a new sense of self. In the words of Buddha, “What we think, we become.” To help you find the beauty in each day, and at every moment, try changing the way you view yourself in this world by incorporating these 20 motivational mantras. 1. Today, I will choose happiness. 2. I am enough. 3. Today, I will positively impact someone’s day. 4. Today, accept what is instead of resenting what isn’t. 5. Just to be alive is a grand thing. Morning mantras to live by. 6. May I be Happy. May I be Healthy. May I be Creative. May I be at ease. 7. I am thankful for everything I have. 8. Today, I will breathe deeply and go slowly. 9. It is enough to do my best. 10. Breathe in joy and strength, breathe out wisdom and peace. Read More Here

Collective Evolution

October 14, 2015 by Alexa Erickson.

 

We all know the detriments of putting ourselves down. When we tell ourselves we’re not good enough too many times, we truly begin to believe it, and for many people, mornings aren’t the easiest. The feeling of getting out of bed to exercise, go to work, or take on any other responsibility we feel obligated to do is tough. But that’s because we make it tough. We tell ourselves Mondays are the worst. We tell ourselves it’s too early to exercise. Thoughts begin to circulate in our heads regarding all the things we have to do, all the things we should be doing, and all the things we actually want to do but don’t feel like we deserve or have time for. This negativity only brings on stress.

We get into such a groove of doing this, of complaining about our Monday through Fridays, that we tend to live for moments, like the weekends or vacations, to get us through the rest of our days. But what we should be doing is living for every day. So how can you change your morning around?

Mantras are words or phrases meant to be chanted either internally or out loud as a means of meditating. They originated about 3,000 years ago in India, at least to the Vedic tradition, in which they were used to influence and control the gods. Throughout history, they have continued to be used in various ways to promote transformation. In our modern day Western world, they are often seen as a means to shifting our perspectives in order to welcome a new sense of self. In the words of Buddha, “What we think, we become.”

To help you find the beauty in each day, and at every moment, try changing the way you view yourself in this world by incorporating these 20 motivational mantras. 

1. Today, I will choose happiness. 

2. I am enough. 

3. Today, I will positively impact someone’s day.

4. Today, accept what is instead of resenting what isn’t.

5. Just to be alive is a grand thing.

6. May I be Happy. May I be Healthy. May I be Creative. May I be at ease.

7.  I am thankful for everything I have.

8. Today, I will breathe deeply and go slowly.

9. It is enough to do my best.

10. Breathe in joy and strength, breathe out wisdom and peace.

Read More Here