HAPPY YOU:
TRY AMBULATORY MEDITATION
Have you ever tried to meditate but simply could not quiet your mind while sitting still? Here’s the fix — ambulatory meditation. You can do this while checking on your plants.
Ambulatory meditation is just what it sounds like. It’s the act of meditating while you walk around. It might sound counter-intuitive to pair meditation and walking, but you can quiet your mind and connect with peace while walking. It is a matter of being intentional and connected to our senses, our surroundings and the present moment.
Usually when we walk, we are on autopilot. When you are practicing ambulatory meditation, you are intentionally choosing the path you will walk, even the foot you will begin your walk with. It is intentional and focused.
Choose the group of plants you will visit when practicing ambulatory meditation. I usually use my hoyas and then move on to the large group of plants in my dining room. Slowly and systematically, I go from plant to plant, touching each one deliberately and purposefully. I use the plants as a point to focus on and quiet my mind. When distracting thoughts try to enter your mind, use the plants to help refocus and clear the thoughts. Pick one up, focus on the weight of it, how it feels in your hands. Focus on the details of the leaves. This allows you to be fully present in the moment, to connect with your mind, your body and your senses. You can take this practice further and add breathing exercises or an affirmative mantra that you repeat with each stroke of a leaf.
I have tried many times to meditate, thinking there was only one way to do it; that’s to sit still and quietly in a room. No matter what, my mind would wander to the grocery list or the week’s errands. Instead of connecting with my body, I felt restless and wanted to change positions just about every 30 seconds. Using my plants as a device to help me focus was a happy accident. I now meditate weekly.
Our thoughts are powerful; meditating with my plants has helped me be mindful and more in control of the thoughts floating in my headspace. — KBH