Yesterday, I had a client tell me they do their meditation while they shower.
Other times, I’ve had people tell me they meditate while they walk or drive the car.
I’ve even had people tell me that household chores are meditative for them (they’re also probably on the brink of enlightenment).
…And the truth is: everything is and can be meditation.
Because meditation is the act of returning to the present.
The problem is, the second we start acting—be it showering, walking, driving, doing chores, working, etc—it usually isn’t long thereafter that we forget we’re trying to meditate and start mind-wandering instead.
And to be clear, mind-wandering and meditating are not the same thing. There is certainly nothing wrong with mind-wandering and the act itself can feel quite good—especially considering how overstimulated our minds are on average in our modern world. A break from the screens where you can just let your imagination do it’s own thing can feel quite liberating.
But, the value received from meditation is something different.
It’s less about unconsciously watching the movie your imagination plays on the walls of your mind and more about consciously choosing time and again to walk out of the imagination movie theater and back into reality—where you can once again notice the here and now.
Your mind will keep trying to bring you back in to watch the movie of your ceaseless thoughts.
But, every moment you remember to leave—regardless of the tasks you’re doing when you remember—is a moment you get to embrace fully.
…And is a moment worth celebrating, indeed.