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Can’t Manage to Meditate? Try These 5 Stress-Busting, Mind-Clearing Activities Instead
I’ve probably written a dozen articles over the years about the benefits of mindfulness, how it impacts the brain, and how simple it is to get started with meditation. And yet I confess I have personally never managed to keep up a consistent meditation practice.
At least I know I’m not alone. Experts reassure struggling meditation newbies that just sitting still and breathing can be way harder than it first seems. And if that doesn’t work to alleviate my guilt, then I also remember this post highlighting the wisdom of Wharton professor Adam Grant and author Oliver Burkeman, arguing there are many other ways to practice mindfulness aside from classic meditation.
You don’t need to meditate to practice mindfulness
After being harassed for years by mindfulness’s many boosters, Grant finally took to The New York Times to argue that meditation isn’t for everyone. Many people, he explains, find other ways to quiet their brains, be in the present moment, and reduce their stress.
Burkeman concurred in The Guardian, writing “I have a personal theory that almost everyone secretly meditates, whether they realize it or not. … almost everyone pursues some activity demanding absolute presence of mind: if…
