This is right. People tend to think of meditation as a static body posture. But can be done anywhere and anytime. It is not about relaxation, it’s about being conscious of something like our breath or just the shape of a grape and bringing your mind constantly to it when it tries to generate thoughts. That exercise of bring your mind constantly to the thing you want, makes a massive benefit in the psyche. It doesn’t benefit from the amount of time you can keep con con concentration, is about that mentioned exercise.

Meditation while tuning or walking or exchanging on elliptical is amazing thing. It is easier to meditate and it helps you with exercise well.

i've been using a simple "box breathing" technique when i start to feel the anxiety begin to creep.. it's really effective for me..

breathing is a four stage process: inhale - hold - exhale - hold (edit: and repeat as necessary)

you force each stage to last 3-4 seconds.. it's hard to hold your lungs empty when you're stressed, so forcing yourself to do this can sort of forcibly lower your anxiety level.. it can be really effective, very quickly..

and as a breathing technique, it sort of qualifies as fundamental meditation as well

The world should have more meditation. Another great time to practice is when lying down for bed.

Edit: I suffer from sleeplessness, and do not use this help me fall asleep. I now recognize that my case may be user-specific, as I do NOT use this time for sleeping or falling asleep. I have other practices that help when that time comes, after meditation.

taking a walk or going to the gym switches my mind off, when it is usually overactive, so I'm not surprised

My girlfriend and I both have ADHD, but meditation has always been easy for me, especially at night.

You don't have to do anything special, it can be while your in bed before sleep, for some people it's just helpful to create a ritual or activity around it to occupy the part of your brain that's liable to fixate on stress.

I've tried sitting with her for a guided meditation app she likes, but it makes it harder for me. Sometimes I feel like Ron Swanson talking outside the meditation class. "I have no idea what these guys are doing, my mind was completely blank"

Great post OP

Practicing mindfulness has been the most important thing in my life for my own health and growth as a person.

I got into eastern philosophy in high school, and never really looked back, only building my own system tailored to me and extrapolating the principles into every possible facet, and every moment. It's a battle to stay constantly on the point, but one I really enjoy having.

This kind of checking in with yourself during activities is one of the foundational techniques taught in some kinds of therapy as well, like cognitive behavior therapy and dialectic behavior therapy

Surely it will paint a picture to people who enjoys psychology and how it effects mindfulness so here goes my life story i guess, tldr is at the end.

First of all, I am not diagnosed with anything other than anxiety and depression so i can't say that i have ADHD nor i am autistic, at least to some degree. But i felt clearly distressed whenever I tried to meditate to practice mindfulness instead of "having worries over small possibilities" and hereby said feck all this. Almost a year ago I am informed that If I feel uncomfortable I repeatedly t-t-t-t with my mouth. Apparently it is weird to my colleagues. So I imagined that has to be my answer to stress at my job and left at that. (My job is secure as it gets that I wish I could branch out but can not lol) Then today I saw this article and all that parts in my life clicked perfectly. Thanks me for being my own life coach today. If you read to this part thank you too!

Tldr: I just remembered that i am actually more stressed when trying to do nothing. I stim when I am stressed. I think this can be classified as active meditation. I can be wrong.

I do this when biking to work, during sections that don’t require much attention/thinking. I just try to quiet my inner voice and instead just look at the passing scenery.

Meditation may be defined as the repetition of a word, sound, phrase, and/or movement, while adopting a passive mind frame - Herbert Benson, M.D. Author of Relaxation Response 1975 ISBN 978-0-688-02955-5

I like to meditate. Well, I say meditate because if I say nap people think I'm lazy.

I usually do sittinf meditation but yesterday I tried walking meditation, it was a guided one from balance, realised all my walks have been missing so much enjoyment that was there all along!

This is why cycling was so good for me and my mental health.

Another great technique: listening to Funhouse and lettin' it rip