How to make any exercise meditation part 1
It is easy to think of meditation as a static, cross legged activity involving incense and mantras. In fact meditation is any activity that repeatedly brings attention back to a single focus. In religious meditation this focus can be a deity visualisation, a prayer, sacred word or question.
Extracted from the religious context then any word, image, sensation or movement can be a focus for meditation. A wide range of studies show regular practise of meditation provides many benefits to mental functioning, emotional stability, health and longevity.
One metaphor used to explain meditation is a stake in the ground to which a monkey is tethered. The monkey represents the thinking mind, which will get up to all kinds of mischief if it is allowed to run wild, and that mischief will become the most prevalent part of the landscape. By tethering the monkey it can be trained, and there is the possibility of noticing the broader landscape beyond its antics. meditation among other things the practise of disidentifying with thoughts.
Within any exercise there is the means to become meditative, as all exercises have a range of possible foci that you can bring the attention back to repeatedly.
Certain exercises facilitate this, others may be more challenging. Generally an exercise with a steady rhythm will be easier to use to get into a meditative state than one where the pace fluctuates.
Taiji and qigong are naturally meditative, because to perform them correctly (by correctly I mean in a way that allows you to progress, rather than perfectly) you need to constantly bring the attention back to key elements of posture and body alignment. Without these as a focus they are simply empty choreography. With the correct focus they reeducate movement, breathing and give all the other benefits of meditation.
In adapting an exercise like running to meditation all you need to do is chose a focus. I suggest you try some of the following. It is a good idea to choose a single focus at the start of each session, or your mental monkey will use the opportunity to leap gleefully from focus to focus, and in doing so it is easy to become re-immersed in thoughts.
1. The posture of the spine.
2. Keeping the body as relaxed as possible.
3. The movement of some part of your body – hips, shoulders, thighs…
4. The sensation within the muscle groups that you are working.
4. Peripheral vision.
The task then becomes not only to run for a period of time, or distance, but to keep bringing your attention back to your focus when it wanders.
One benefit of making an exercise meditative is that encourages you to separate sensation from interpretation. When you exercise at a high intensity it is easy to get into a mental loop or dialogue that goes 'This is hard…this hurts…I want to stop…I'd rather be doing something else…I am going to stop etc'
When you practise making your exercise meditative there is just the sensation, which is not labelled as either good or bad, desirable or disliked. This allows you to train more effectively, and suffer less.
While you can stop the interpretation, you do not stop your intelligence. So that if something is too intense, or potentially damaging you will become aware of it. In fact you are more likely to notice any negative consequences faster this way than if you are caught in internal dialogue and thought.
If it is appropriate maintain your focus during your warm down. Especially if you have trained intensely. This encourages a faster relaxation response, which stimulates the immune system (which can be depressed temporarily during and after exercise) and puts your body into repair and recovery mode.
to be continued…