I tried countless times to do meditation. I tried Oprah’s meditations, but clocking in at 20 minutes or so, if I did it during the day, I was inevitably interrupted by one of the kids. At night, I’d fall asleep. So what about before the kids woke up? Ha! With my youngest regularly waking at 6am, if not earlier, that wasn’t about to happen. (Affiliate links included).
But with the demands of work, life, parenting, and everything in between, I craved something to ground me. I needed to find a way to fit meditation in some way into my life. Fortunately there are all sorts of ways to bring some mindfulness into our day. Bonus: It doesn’t always require 20-plus minutes of sitting still. For me, just a few minutes of meditation can help bring me focus, centeredness, and mindfulness.
Here are five mediation ideas that can be worked into a busy life:
5-minute meditations
When both kids are out of the house (a rare occurrence), my first inclination is to dive into my to-do list. Instead, I find a five-minute meditation on Youtube (like this one), sit down somewhere comfy, pipe it through a Bluetooth speaker, and breathe. It may only be five minutes, but it’s amazing what just a few minutes of a guided meditation and mindfulness can do to the body.
When I first started this, it was hard not to let my mind drift, but as with anything, the more I do it, the more benefit I see. My heart rate slows, my mind calms, and I find a bit of peace. Afterwards, when I work on my to-do list after my short meditation, I find myself much more focused.
Heel to Toe
There’s the joke that sometimes the only “vacation” a mom can get is the walk from the driver’s side door and around the car to get the kiddo out of their car seat. On days where these few seconds feel like a vacation, remind yourself “heel to toe.” Not only can it be a mantra of sorts, but it will literally ground you as you remind yourself to walk from heel to toe. It slows you down even on frantic days, and, for me, it reminds me to breathe and be present.
I also use this trick when I go out on walks with my kids. As they zoom on their bike or scooter, I’ll remind myself “heel to toe.” It’s one way to remind yourself to slow down and enjoy the view.
Practice affirmations
Along the same lines, affirmations can slow the swirl of thoughts (another benefit of meditation). Find your thoughts all over the place, with far too many negative thoughts of what you “should” be doing in there? Take a breath, then repeat after me: “I am calm. I am enough. I am important.”
Those are just a few examples of affirmations. Another way to decide on what affirmation would work best for you, consider the negative thoughts you struggle with, turn them around, and put them in a positive light. For example, on days I struggle with my kids and don’t feel like I’m being a good mom, I’ll pause, take a breath, and say this affirmation to myself: “I am a good mom and I am doing the best I can.” When you make it a practice to repeat positive words like this, it can have the effect of a meditation.
The 5-4-3-2-1 Method
When you feel overwhelmed or like you’re being pulled in multiple directions, this is another good time to hit pause, take a breath, and pull yourself back into the present. A friend introduced me to this method, and it’s done wonders at calming me when I feel frazzled, which is why it’s like a meditation.
Take a breath and look around at your surroundings. In your head, or out loud, say:
- 5 things you can see
- 4 items you are currently touching
- 3 things you hear
- 2 things you smell
- 1 thing you can taste.
By bringing focus to your immediate senses, you can calm down and be more mindful of where you are. It’s not a traditional meditation by any means, but it can help slow down your thoughts.
Get creative
Last but certainly not least, creating art can be a form of meditation too — whether you consider yourself creative or not. For me, the simple act of drawing or doodling can calm my mind. But the possibilities are pretty endless for the creation process: paint, draw — or doodle, color, crochet or knit, do some origami, make beaded jewelry, or heck, play around with pipe cleaners.
One of my favorite ways to relax is with coloring in my adult coloring books; the process of choosing colors and then filling in each section slows down my mind, and in that sense, it’s also a meditative process. For more ideas on how to nurture your creativity, check out “The Artist’s Way for Parents.”
What is your favorite meditation? In what ways have you found meditation to be beneficial in your life?
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