The Art Of Meditating Without Meditating: 8 Everyday Tasks Equally As Calming & Therapeutic
Andrii Nekrasov | Shutterstock Meditation often means sitting in silence while quieting your mind and focusing on breathing. But not every meditative practice has to take this form. People can feel the same kind of calm, healing energy from everyday tasks, as strange as it may sound. Once they're able to slow down enough to be present, it will feel like a different form of therapy.
8 everyday activities that feel as calming and therapeutic as meditation:
1. Cooking something from scratch that you've never made
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What if cooking dinner was your new meditation? Well, it could be. While things like making dinner seem like obligations, they can grab attention and help people slow down.
They can immerse themselves in a new recipe or bake something that requires a lot of focus. Using your hands to make something you'll eventually consume is a healthy escape.
Putting love and intention into these things makes experiences like cooking feel different. We're mindful and present, putting love into cooking and calmness into our routines, without letting our minds wander.
2. Taking a long bath with ambient lighting
Everyone's most restful self-care activities look different. Some go all in on long, luxurious bubble baths, while others just carve out five minutes to let their minds quiet while showering. These warm sensations and the solitude of bathing can feel meditative with the right mindset.
The hygiene habits we have to do can become things we want to do. With mindfulness and all the benefits that come from bathing in warm water, we can meditate to the point of calm.
3. Knitting or crafting something with your hands
Rhythmic movement feels meditative, especially when we're using our hands and focusing our attention. That's part of why hobbies like knitting and crocheting can reduce anxiety.
It's meditative, but not because you're not thinking at all. It's meditative because the practice requires intense focus.
4. Carving out a few slow minutes to make a morning beverage
Sitting with your tea before starting the day or making your coffee are things that give us a chance to be mindful. We're able to stop our minds from thinking about our tasks for the day, and just being present as our brains wake up.
These are the kinds of things that turn a stressed out person into a calmer, more mindful one. Replace that time doomscrolling in bed for 15 minutes with a deliberate, intentional ritual like this, and everything changes.
5. Washing dishes by hand instead of using the dishwasher
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Using your hands for chores like washing dishes can be really calming, especially when you start paying attention to the experience. The warmth of the water and the relief of getting a task done are therapeutic in a way.
Rather than rushing and subjecting yourself to a false sense of urgency, sit with moments like this and use them to come back into your body.
6. Commuting to work without music or distractions
Sometimes, choosing to do something in silence is a form of meditation itself. For things like commuting to work or driving, which take attention and focus, you can regulate your nervous system by avoiding listening to the radio or hooking up your Bluetooth.
Even walking and biking outside, and using nature as a soundtrack instead of music, can feel meditative.
7. Making 'bad art' without any expectations
When we intentionally make something that we're not going to show anyone else, we're regulating our nervous systems. It's not just the power of exercising creativity that makes us calm, which boosts our well-being, but being able to focus without any pressure.
As a form of meditation, some people doodle or make collages. They paint with old watercolors or use an old camera to take photos. By giving these things intentional focus and removing the desire to make something perfect, it feels good.
8. Lighting a candle and watching the flame flicker
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It might sound somewhat strange, but small things like watching a candle flame flicker can calm your hyperactive, stressed out mind. As a 2014 study explains, watching a flame can be hypnotic, which is why we've created campfires and found ways to bring fire inside for all of humanity.
So, the next time you're needing some calm in your life, don't just quiet your mind with traditional meditation. Lean on something softer to allow your body and mind to relax.
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a senior editorial strategist with a bachelor's degree in social relations & policy and gender studies who focuses on psychology, relationships, self-help, and human interest stories.
