I just spent two hours pulling weeds in the front yard. At least I think it was two hours. It could have been 20 hours and I wouldn’t have noticed the difference; my mind was elsewhere. There’s something very therapeutic about the act of doing repetitive physical movement that let’s the mind go off into the space where it can solve the problems of the world.
You read all the time that gardening is good exercise. In fact, I found numerous web pages and articles that list how many calories you can burn by digging a trench for half an hour. It’s right up there with swimming laps, which is great, but how often to you hear about the mental and emotional benefits of gardening instead?
Some people meditate, I pull weeds. When I start pulling weeds, my mind transforms into one of those super computer screen savers that runs hundreds of tests to cure cancer or build the human genome or search for aliens in outer space. Most of the time I can’t remember a thing afterward, but I feel like the weight of the world has been lifted, and I usually know the answer to at least one burning question that’s been plaguing me for the last week.
Moving meditation is just as therapeutic as sitting still, I think it’s just a case of “different strokes for different folks”. If you think I’m crazy, just try it one day (that is, if you don’t already know EXACTLY what I’m talking about as you read this). At first, you’re weeding, but suddenly you’re processing the days events, the joke you heard the other day, the argument you had with you sister. Sometimes there’s a flash of brilliance. The light bulb goes on, “Ah – ha! So that’s how to keep my topical fruit salad from getting soggy on the bottom!” I often wish I had a notepad in my back pocket for those moments, because the thoughts are moving so fast and furious, they’re hard to keep up with.
I suppose it wouldn’t be generalizing to say that the point of meditation is to watch your thoughts, not to engage in them. Weeding therapy allows for the same kind of distance on the physical level. Instead of cursing yourself for letting your garden go so long without weeding, you’re just weeding, and the rest is a journey of the mind.
What activity is meditative to you? Share it with us here.
