Informal meditation practice is possible anywhere at any time, without anyone knowing what you are doing. Just begin to breathe in and breathe out regularly. Listen to the breaths if it is quiet, but most importantly breathe in and out evenly. This technique brings balance into the body-mind. If angry or upset begin to practice the even breathing; it calms.
If feeling anxious at school or anywhere practice a few sets of the even breathing. Remember, do not do any breath retention.
If you have the opportunity, take a walk while breathing evenly and rhythmically in and out; swinging your arms back and forth in opposition. That means, when your right foot steps forward, your left arm swings forward. I use this practice myself each day when out for a long walk along the canals in Amsterdam.
Master Sivananda of Rishikesh was a yoga master and a medical doctor. He said that walking briskly circulates the bodily hormones that give one a feeling of well-being.
Biking, running and swimming are additional invigorating opportunities for reflection; meditation. These moving exercises all need increased oxygen and when you breathe deeply and evenly you pull in oxygen and breathe out waste products like carbon dioxide.
It is interesting to note that our carbon dioxide is what plants breathe in to grow; one more example of how humans and the natural world are dependent upon each other.
The active meditations, where there is no way to do multi-tasking, give you a chance to clear your mind and make space for problem solving.
Walking between classes at school while concentrating on even breathing may be just the amount of time you need to solve a minor problem. And no one is seeing how you are making use of your time.
A walk gives a change of scene and makes us let loose of the emotional baggage that may be keeping us from seeing the facts that are really right in front of us.
In summary, use your spare minutes in informal meditation to refresh your point of view by turning your attention inward, making space in your mind for the answer to problems to arise.
For offline reading
Meditation and Spirituality for TeensTeens, this is an ebook for you to read and practice on your own, a primer with 15 chapters to learn to meditate in a variety of ways and explore your spiritual nature.
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Article by Susan Helene Kramer
