Meditation
You might think it’s not for you. But maybe the word meditation has become a bit cliched. We think of sitting quietly with our legs crossed. That’s not something that all of us either want to or are able to do.
How about, if instead of the word meditation, you thought of another activity. One that you can lose yourself in for a while. How about listening to music, or riding your horse, or going for a walk, or jogging, or riding your bike, or swimming, or colouring in a picture, or drawing, or playing an instrument, or dancing…
When I think of meditation, I think of being in the moment. Personally, I do find it useful to focus on my breathing, or on the sensations in my feet or my hands, for example. This is along the more traditional lines of meditation. But there are so many other ways of being in the moment, in the zone, living right now. A lot is dependent on what activities are available to us, and what our life circumstances are. Whatever is going on for you right now, there will be something that you can do.
I remember a counsellor several years ago asking me if I could take 10 minutes each day to sit quietly and rest. At the time, that seemed completely unachievable. So he suggested that I take two minutes, or even just one. One minute seemed manageable, and that was where I started.
Hacking out on my horse is for me, one of the best forms of meditation. I can lose myself completely in the countryside. Sometimes I literally get lost, not deliberately! I listen to the birds, look at the trees, watch the world go by. Others I know talk about the rhythm of jogging, or of walking, or of swimming, or of cycling, helping their mind to settle.
Any activity that you can immerse yourself in can, in my opinion, be considered a form of meditation. Finding a way of training your brain to slowdown, to switch off from the outside world for a while, will undoubtedly help you towards being a happier person.
© Sue Palmer, The Horse Physio, 2021
Treating your horse with care, connection, curiosity and compassion
