The Lifehacker article "Try a Writing Meditation If Sitting Still Isn't Working For You" reminded me of how I've never quite resonated with the popular advice to clear your mind, meditate, and be mindful. When people ask me if I meditate, the word makes me think of doing yoga or sitting zazen or taking deep breaths – none of which I do. Maybe I'll come around to those ways eventually, but in the meantime, let me share a few of the ways that work for me just in case they might help you too. =)

I generally keep my life low-stress. Frugality gives me a buffer from most of life's financial stressors. Low expectations and personal responsibility make happiness easier. Stoicism helps me focus on what I can control.

I do like relaxing and being more appreciative. Everyday activities like doing the dishes, cuddling cats, spending time with W-, and following my curiosity give me that sense of abundance and fortune. They also help me slow down my thoughts and bump into interesting ideas. This reminds me of the relaxing side of meditation.

As for becoming aware of and addressing my self-talk or my thoughts, writing and drawing do a great job of bringing those thoughts out there so that I can acknowledge them or do something with them. I think this is like the self-awareness side of meditation.

Still, sometimes something perturbs my calm more than I'd like. When I'm miffed at something, that's really more about me than about something else. It's a good opportunity to take a look at my thoughts to see where I was lax or mistaken. This is like the clarifying side of meditation.

So I guess I do meditate, but I don't do it in the stock-photography-meditation sort of way. Here are some other tools I use to shift my mental state:

Activities that move my body or my mind make it easy for me to move my thoughts, too. For example, walking gets me breathing fresh air and looking around. Cooking immerses me in tastes and lets me enjoy doing something tangibly productive. Reading takes me inside someone else's experiences. Helping someone shifts my focus from myself to someone else.

(In particular, walking to a nearby park will almost certainly result in seeing lots of really happy dogs. There's something about seeing a dog with a big grin and an even bigger stick.)

What is it that I'm really doing when I choose these activities? I think I'm quieting my brain enough so that I can think with less distraction. Then I can pay attention to the thoughts that I find odd or that I'd like to address, to see if I can resolve them.

In addition to responding to life as it comes, I sometimes think ahead about the way I'd like to respond to life. This is because my life has so far been pretty awesome. I don't want to take it for granted, and I also don't want to be blindsided by challenges. From time to time, I think about more difficult situations that I could find myself in so that I can try out different responses. This is the contemplative side of meditation, I think.

So that's how I "meditate," I guess. No relaxing music, no super-deep thoughts. Mostly just everyday activities and the occasional bit of reflection. Seems to be working for me so far. =)

If you don't meditate with a capital M, what do you enjoy doing instead? =)