What Is Moving Meditation?

It’s safe to say that most of you are probably familiar with the concept of meditation.

You sit, relax, and clear your mind.

Usually, it’s accompanied by incense and other things designed to make it easier to relax.

However, a concept that is less well known is the idea of “moving meditation” (also often referred to as movement meditation).

Although the name is somewhat self-explanatory, I plan to explain exactly what moving meditation is. In this article, you will not only get a full explanation of what it is, but I will also explain some of the more common examples of movement meditation.

What is moving meditation?

When you think of a stereotypical “meditation” scene, you probably think of people sitting cross-legged in a small, closed-off room.

While this is definitely a legitimate form of meditation (and probably the most popular kind), it’s not the only way to meditate.

Moving meditation is basically meditating while doing some sort of physical activity.

The actual activity itself is largely irrelevant; it can be something complex, like yoga, or it can be something simple, like walking.

The only important point is that the activity has to be simple enough that you can do it, while still clearing on your mind and focusing on individual things.

One of the biggest differences between regular meditation and movement meditation relates to what you focus on while doing it.

With regular meditation, the focus is on breathing.

People are encouraged to think about their breathing and to focus on it.

With moving meditation, the focus shifts to things like muscles.

People are encouraged to focus on their muscles. More specifically, they focus on how their movement affects their muscles.

The idea behind meditation is to focus on something simple and repetitive like what I described above in order to help focus the brain’s energy.

Examples of moving meditation

Aerobic exercises

By far the most common forms of moving meditation are the various aerobic exercises that people do.

Things like yoga, Tai Chi, and Pilates act as both aerobic exercises and forms of movement meditation.

Aikido

Aikido is a form of Japanese martial arts.

It’s not very aggressive, meaning that it’s mostly useful as a form of exercise or as a limited form of self-defense. Because of the nature of Aikido, it can also act as a form of moving meditation.

Labyrinth meditation

Finally, there is labyrinth meditation.

As the name implies, you effectively meditate while walking through a labyrinth.

The idea is that labyrinth acts as a sort of puzzle that you have to solve, which works to focus your mind.