In The Moment 03.2020

movement

CalmMoment.com 57

M

editation is something that

many of us will have tried;

with everyone from Katy

Perry to Oprah lauding

its benefits, it’s hard not

to be intrigued. And, I know we hear this

a lot, but meditation has totally transformed

my life, helping me to change from hiding

behind scripts, characters and busyness in

an acting career to knowing my true self

and being comfortable in my own skin. But

if traditional, seated meditation isn’t for you,

there’s no need to assume that you can’t reap

these rewards; there are many more ways of

meditating than meets the eye, and it might

take you a while to find the right one.

I spent years researching, training and

participating in a wide array of different

meditation practices: from a vipassana

retreat ( 10 days of silence, sitting for up to

10 hours a day in meditation) to walking

meditations in the desert. Each of these

practices I have valued – and learnt from –

in their different ways, but it wasn’t until

I came across combining meditation with

movement that I found a style of meditation

that really worked for me.

The idea of moving meditation isn’t new;

yoga, Qi Gong and t’ai chi are all forms

of mindful movement that aim to create

headspace and calm thought. But, for me,

freeing our movement from sequences

or poses is key to getting out of our heads

and fully connecting to the body. It was on

a trip to LA a couple of years ago that I first

encountered this, attending a class taught by

Scott Picard, a former gymnast and dancer.

His class was centred on intuitive movement,

When we think of meditation, the seated pose often

comes to mind, but there are many ways to find your om,

explains yoga and meditation teacher Maude Hirst

Free

your body

Pho

tog
rap

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g.b
ang

a^