Things That Are Meditative

I've done the type of meditation that comes to mind when you hear the word: the kind that involves sitting on the floor on a cushion or yoga mat, legs folded into the lotus position, palms resting upward on thighs, eyes closed. Each time I've been guided, along with yoga classmates, through the meditation by an instructor, and each time I've felt that I wasn't quite doing it "right." The repetitive, mindful breathing never fully "takes," I guess you'd say. I'm never able to lull myself into that sort of subconcious state of concentration; my mind wanders away from the pattern of the breathing, and the next thing you know, I'm rehashing old high-school relationships or wondering when I'll decide to have a baby and what I'll name it. That kind of thing.

Lately, though, I've started noticing the meditative qualities of other activities, things that aren't called "meditation" but for me result in what I know I'm supposed to achieve during those last fifteen minutes of yoga class. Here's an incomplete list:

-knitting
-running
-singing
-carving a pumpkin
-proofreading long, nontechnical articles
-tallying figures
-making lists
-vacuuming
-stretching
-driving on an empty, scenic road

When I try to determine what all of these activities have in common, I come up with two things: they are repetitious and they require moderate concentration. The key word in the latter characteristic being "moderate." So while adding up columns of numbers for me is pleasantly therapeutic because it requires attention and concentration but is not complicated, filling out a tax return or working through a word problem ("Two trains are coming at each other at different speeds...") is not. Likewise, driving on a country road or remote stretch of interstate is meditative; fighting traffic on La Cienega Boulevard during rush hour is not, because it requires intense concentration and is unpredictable.

Lately I've been hearing and reading (in everything from Newsweek to fiction) about the meditative qualities of knitting, and I can attest to those qualities now that I am an (admittedly novice) knitter myself. I've also heard and read about gardening as a meditative activity, and I could see how that would be true. I might like to take it up as a hobby once I own my own home.

What's intriguing is that it seems that current research indicates that meditative activities are beneficial for health. I've read a bit about super-healthy elderly people who regularly knit, or garden, or do crossword puzzles. The general gist seems to be that incorporating some meditative activities into one's life on a regular basis can contribute to both physical and mental health, which I think is neat. It's not often you hear that something enjoyable might also provide health benefits! (The recent exception being, of course, eating dark chocolate.)It'll be interesting to see where the research leads.