Meditate on "Don't Meditate"

I was in yoga last night and for one of the meditations we did, the instruction was "don't meditate!" Instead of sitting quietly and going "no mind," we, well, we did sit quietly but instead of "no mind" we went the road of "active mind" instead. We traced our whole day. What did we do? Whom did we see? How did we feel? What did we think?

I got up and didn't run because it is Monday and I don't run on Monday. I started my oil pulling and got in the shower. I washed my face, then my hair, then my body. I got out and combed my hair. I put jojoba oil on my face. I blow dried my hair. I continued with my facial regimen. I went to my altar and lit a candle. I sat to meditate and ended up emailing my boss. I sat some more. The timer went and I thanked god for the willingness to sit. I got up and put on lotion and my make-up. I got dressed for work. I made tea.

Before I even got out the door, the meditation was over. I realized that I felt even more relaxed than I do when I "no mind" sit and it got me thinking. If the purpose of meditation is to let the sub-conscience rest (mental flossing, I recently heard it called) then perhaps if I keep my conscience mind active, the sub conscience is given a chance to settle down. Makes enough sense to me.

I tried it this morning and I went for a full-on, action-packed, busy-brain, list of a meditation and you know what? It kind of worked. I was less fidgety and at the end of it, I felt ready to hit up the day. Not only did I have a sense for what I wanted to do today, but it wasn't very chatter-ey at all.

So if the purpose of meditation is to rest the sub-conscience and be present, then have I been going about it all wrong with this "no mind' stuff? "Busy-mind" might really be where it's at for me. Today, anyway. Both certainly have their place but it is nice to find that I have an alternative. I work on being nice and forgiving to myself when I get busy-minded during a meditation and this simply takes that to the next level.

I love finding new techniques for meditation. I love trying them and experimenting. It serves as a reminder to me to stop taking meditation so seriously and that it can take so many different forms that there truly is no doing wrong...other than not doing it!

Get out there, yogis. Sit or walk or chant or dance. Have a quiet mind or a busy one. Be still or be active. Just try something to clear away the day and to get present.

Try it. You'll like it. I promise.

Namaste