How do you incorporate movement into your worship?
Moving meditation is probably the most common aspect of movement that I incorporate into how I worship. When the weather is warm and tolerable, I like to use walking meditation. When I am not able to go out for a walk, I strive to make my daily activities prayerful. This takes a significant amount of mental effort to remain both in a prayerful mindset and to be focused on my task at hand.
Some activities lend themselves to being prayerful better then others. I find that spinning (as in the act of making thread/yarn with a spindle) is very well attuned to this. I'm not yet at the point of having a similar sense in knitting, though I am beginning to experience it with crochet. Tasks that I can, to some extent, do on 'autopilot' serve well as something to help me quiet the mental noise of my anxiety and illness and frees up my mental energy to focus on other tasks.
A goal that I have for this calendar year is to become more physically active. Part of the reasoning for this goal is because I wish to be healthier. Another part of this reasoning is that physical health and activities that help me stay 'embodied' and focused on the sensations of being within my body are something that Freyr wants me to work on. Exercise and building up my physical health is a good way to do this.
Small physical movements, such passing prayer beads through my fingers, are a great deal like spinning. They work to quiet the mind because they are repetitive and they are active enough to keep me focused. While some people find that yoga or martial arts are great for entering into an altered state of consciousness, I'm not really in the physical shape for that level of activity, yet.
This was really helpful! I've always struggled to incorporate movement into worship because I always assumed it had to be things like walks, yoga, martial arts, dancing, etc. Not to mention I struggle with "normal" meditation because I seem to have the attention span of a peanut ;). I'm not the fittest person either and walks are the most I can manage, but these are some wonderful methods! I especially love the idea of knitting as an aid to meditation. Thank you very much and keep your wonderful articles coming :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for your delightful reply. I find most 'normal' methods of meditation to be difficult because I am frequently so restless due to my chronic problems with anxiety. Having something to fidget with and occupy the 'roof brain' chatter helps me a great deal. It also helps to remember that any activity can be meditation with sufficient focus and deliberate concentration.
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