Let me guess — when you think of meditation, you picture people sitting motionless, cross-legged on the floor, back straight with wrists gently resting on their knees; slow and steady breathing and perhaps a soft, audible “om” emanating from inside them. This condition of calmness is said to be able to quiet the storms of the mind, restore energies and connections with the universe and bring a sense of peace within.

No doubt about it, I want me some of that. And it looks easy enough. You just sit down, be quiet and pay attention to what’s happening right now. Sounds like the mantra heard ringing through every elementary school in the world.

That’s the problem — many of us are your basic third grader when it comes to the concept of stillness. I know I certainly am. We’re doers, and often it’s our mind-spirit connection that “moves” us. So, while others struggle to sit still and clear their minds as their legs fall asleep, their back muscles ache and their heads bob forward in a microsecond of slumber, they are neither still, focused or at peace.

Don’t get me wrong, seeking and trying this manner of meditation is an awesome feat in itself. But the difficulty, the near impossibility of it, is what makes us even more frustrated and frantic.

Why is it, that for most of us, being still is so difficult? It’s because nothing, inside or outside of us, is actually still. Everything is energy, which means it’s in constant motion, from the largest objects in space, to the smallest subatomic particles that form our bodies. That is the essence and the reality of “unstillness.”

So, I say, don’t fight the laws of the universe. Embrace the facts: everything is energy, all of life is experiment, action is alchemy and creativity is your core mode of operandi. And therefore, there’s no right or wrong way to meditate. The goal is to simply practice paying attention to the present moment with an accepting, nonjudgmental attitude.

Moving meditation or a practice of “unstillness” has all the same ingredients, functions and benefits of the time-honored practice of meditation. Maybe more. It includes focus, introspection, breathing, commitment and, of course, movement.  What it looks like is up to how you turn that kaleidoscope that is your life. For me, I’ve cranked that scope around numerous times and come up with everything from a running meditation to a running water meditation. So, c’mon baby, let’s be moving om!

Because meditation starts with mindfulness, start with those activities that you move through every day (but often or usually do in an oblivious or irritated way).

Take the simple act of waking up in the morning. The alarm goes off, and with a groan you roll over and hit the snooze button. While you may think you need those extra ten minutes of sleep, there’s some real truth to the old adage, “you snooze you lose.” Try what I call a morning beditation. It’s a wake-up call that’s also the answer to starting your day in a mindful way.

It’s based on the Body Scan Meditation that is popular for beginner meditators. But, besides just becoming aware of, and sending attention to the various sensations that we can notice in different parts of the body, a beditation practice awakens and refreshes the whole body and creates the time and space for a “sense-ational” day.

With 10 steps of 1-minute each, anyone can bust out these moves  and get up and glow.

1. A Sure-Footed Start

Laying on your back with your eyes closed or gazing at a particular spot on the ceiling, take a deep breath. On the exhale, curl your toes as tightly as you can toward the balls of your feet, and hold it for as long as your exhale lasts. Then, release your curled up piggies, and inhale as you flex your toes backward, spreading them far apart to look like Fred Flintstone toes. “Yabba-dabba-do” it a couple of times before moving on to pointing and flexing your feet a few times. And for the final bit of fancy footwork — wiggle and shake your feet loosely from side to side.

2. Getting a Leg Up

With your legs out straight and feet pointed straight up, press the back of your knees into the bed so that your heels come off the surface slightly. As you release this stretch, inhale and guide your right knee up as close to your chest as possible. Hold it for a second and then put your foot flat on the bed, keeping your knee bent. Take a full breath, and on the exhale repeat the same motions with your left leg.

3. Get Your Butt In Gear

Just gently squeeze your butt cheeks together and lift your rear off the bed by pushing from your flat feet. Hold, and then slowly lower your hips back to the bed and stretch your legs out straight. If you can’t get your ass of the bed, just keep it on the mattress and squeeze and release your cheeks four or five times.

4. Reaching Middle Ground

Take a deep breath in, and watch your belly and chest naturally expand. But, push it out a little further — make yourself look “preggo.” At the top of that breath, pause and then exhale fully while your belly and chest flatten, but suck in your gut as far as you can. Act like you’re trying to button those jeans you wore when you were in college! Repeat 2 more times. C’mon, you can stomach it. Next, lay in a neutral position and bend sideways without lifting any part of your body off the bed. Just go far enough to feel a stretch in the extended side of your torso. Then, repeat on the other side.

5. A Little Necking

Well, sort of. Since the prelude to necking is often that “meaningful look from across a crowded room”, go ahead and turn your head to the far right to gaze at your partner, or your pet, or just the edge of the pillow. When you do, your chin should be over your shoulder. Inhale as you turn your head and exhale as you bring it back to center. Do this again to the far left. Now, tilt your head to the right and left so that your ear is as close to your shoulder as possible, but don’t bring your shoulder up to meet it. Next, stick your neck out. That is, tilt your head backwards, lifting your chin into the air. Then tilt it forward toward your chest. The tilting will probably be easier without a pillow under your head.

6. Arm-N-Arm

With your elbows tucked into your sides and pushing down into the bed, your palms facing up, swing only your lower arms up and down as if you’re making a short-armed “sheet angel” (five full swipes ought to do it). Next, bring your lower arms straight up on top of your upper arms and tap yourself on the front of your shoulders. Extend, fold and tap 5 times, to end with your arms laying out straight by your sides.

7. Give Yourself a Hand

You’re more than halfway done! Start as we did with the feet. Clinching all ten fingers at the first knuckle, give a quick squeeze and then release and spread your fingers as far and wide as you can. Relax your stretched fingers and swirl your wrists in one direction slowly, then the other direction, and finally, shake them out rapidly. Immediately follow this by interlacing your fingers in front of your body and turn them inside out so that your palms are facing the foot of the bed. Keep your hands in this position and while you inhale deeply, raise your arms up and over your head. Then, exhale and relax your hands and arms, but leave them above your head.

8. Time to Face the Day

Open your eyes wide, lifting your eyebrows high, then close them tight, like squinting with your eyes shut. Open them again and move only your eyeballs from far right to far left, as well as toward the back of your head and down your nose. For the rest of your face, do whatever feels good — scrunch your nose, flare your nostrils, push your lips around, drop your jaw, wiggle your ears (if you can) — whatever you want, and then end it with a couple of huge, deep breaths. Take the first one in and out through your nose. Take the second one in through your nose, but let it out through your mouth with a big, hearty, audible sigh!

9. Listen Up

It’s time to relax your body and face, and perk up your ears to just listen to the sounds of morning. Maybe the birds are singing, or there’s a dog barking in the distance. Perhaps you can hear the wind in the trees or traffic from the street, voices outside or the subtle sounds of someone moving about in another room of the house. The idea is to just notice the noises and then let them pass. Don’t attach any thought to them or let them affect your feelings. They are all signs of life — signs of YOUR life. So, keep a smile on your face, and in your heart, and thank the Universe for these 10 extra minutes of being alive!

10. LOL

That’s right. Go ahead and laugh right out loud! Begin by gently turning the corners of your mouth upward and start smiling softly. Then, broaden your smile and start laughing without exerting any force. Deepen your laughter so you feel it from your belly, and can hear it resonate throughout the room and into your heart. Try and laugh ‘with’ yourself or a partner, but not ‘at’ or ‘about’ someone or something. The reason to do this? In the words of the Indian guru and teacher of meditation, Osho, “When you have a heartfelt belly laugh, all parts of your being — the physiological, the psychological, the spiritual — they all vibrate in one single tune, they all vibrate in harmony.” And if that’s not convincing enough, just remember the old proverb, “he who laughs last, laughs best!”

Maybe you pop out of bed like a cork from a champagne bottle, and need to hit the shower immediately. No worries. You can still get a “move om” with what I call a wetitation. Remember, it’s all about being aware of what’s happening in the present moment, noticing all the sensations that come up, and doing so with an open, hospitable attitude. You could do many of the beditiation moves in the shower or you could simply tune-in to your senses. Feel your fingers in the sudsy strands of your hair as you gently massage your scalp. Notice the texture of the washcloth, scrubby or razor against your skin and the warmth of the water as it washes over your body. Inhale the fragrance of the soap or shampoo, and then exhale with a loud and lovely “aahh” sound, and know that you have just fully engaged in a conscious, cleansing and clearing “wetitation” practice. You can also do this with other grooming rituals, like shaving, trimming your nails, or brushing your teeth.

This concept of “unstillness” can be applied to any everyday task that we normally approach by just going through the motions. It can also be applied in more creative ways to your more passionate pursuits too. It could be as calm as a petitation (petting your fur baby or any tame animal) to something as titillating as a feditation (romantic, candlelight dinner of feeding each other).

Whatever warms your heart, sparks passion within and focuses the mind can turn into a meditation. Writing, swimming, dancing, painting, yoga, tightrope walking — you decide, and then commit to it as a meditative practice. See how it moves you to a more conscious, creative life.

Kristina Eisenhower

Author, Creator & Creative Empowerment Coach

www.kaleidoliving.com