I think you're right about the benefits of meditation through movement. I believe seated meditation is unique in that it allows for unique inward insight on a subconscious level, especially through guided meditation. There is a place for both forms of meditation.
My goodness! Finally found someone who understands and PREACHES what I tell people! I use powerlifting, power yoga, and pre-hip joint injury kickboxing and cross fit to MEDITATE. People think I'm crazy or aggressive when I tell them about that, they don't understand that PHYSICAL INTENSITY IS my way of turning off my brain. I sleep like a baby after such intense training days! Thank you for not making me feel like an alien!
Where have you been all my life? The level of sanity in your vids is a tonic to my soul. I'm so excited to have found you! I resonate in such a satisfying way with your perspective and intellect....yeh, let me stop...but i could go on...😆.
As a construction worker that likes to work out and has a toddler and a house to maintain, I really need to learn the sitting meditation. Sometimes I forget what sitting feels like!
Interesting new perspective.....but from the standpoint of unplugging from technology that has been integrated into our personal and professional lives, just sitting for 10-20 minutes and breathing might be a welcome respite.
You're both right, we sit too much but seated meditation can still be very valuable. Moving as much as we can is important but it's not a substitute for sitting quietly and observing the mind with intention.
Big misconception right from the start: Meditation is not about "clearing your mind", "yolking [?] the thoughts from your mind", or even really controlling your mind. It's about witnessing what goes on with clarity. In order to even realize that our mind is constantly creating thoughts (which most people don't, because they are actually identified with their thoughts, they think that they ARE the voice inside their head) and to create a space from which to observe them, you usually start by focusing on the breath (or a candle flame or a mantra, whatever), because without a clear point of focus, you are almost definitely going to get pulled away by the never-ending stream of thoughts very quickly. People have this image in their head of meditation of sitting cross-legged, all blissful and happy, with a completely still mind. This could not be further from the truth most of the time. The process of meditation is about increasing awareness. A lot of the stuff of which you become aware, you might not like. But instead of distracting yourself or trying to change your state by working out, listening to music, working, checking social media and emails, getting a beer, jerking off or having sex or any other number of activities you can think of, you do your best to just be curious and look at whatever's occuring at the moment, in your mind, in your body, or even around you. A calmer mind is the end result of lots of hours spent in meditation, just like a herculean physique is the end result of lots of hours spent working out. In both endeavours, it would be foolish to expect huge results after just a few sessions. Kettlebell training, dynamic meditation or any form of physical workout for that matter (even yoga) is NOT a substitute for traditional meditation. Of course exercise is still very good for you, but it will not expand your awareness in the same way. We, as citizens of the modern world, actually need meditation more than anyone else before us in history, because we have so many distractions pulling at us from every direction each and every day. Our attention has become a very valuable commodity and there's a war going on for it. So, if you have very little awareness over how you direct your attention, your life is going to fall victim to this war and your attention is going to be controlled by which ever company is most effective at manipulating you. So, I have to say, I find it downright irresponsible to tell people to kettlebell (which I do, btw), INSTEAD of meditating. It is simply not the same and will not produce the same benefits. Why not just do a little of both?
Christopher very well said. I would even add that although I respect what point he’s making he seems to be missing the bigger picture which is that there’s something about consciously deciding to actively sit down and do nothing on a daily basis. Yes we move less in modern day but our minds surely don’t. Constant stimulation by technology has made our minds absolutely desperate for instant gratification to the point where even if we are sitting on a couch all day we still can’t seem to quite “sit still” when you workout, sure it’s a meditative experience that shares some common ground with traditional sitting meditation but when you only meditate physically active like he suggests, you get to satisfy that part of your brain that can’t quite sit still While ,like I said earlier when you consciously decide to sit and do nothing and try your best to just be present it provides an entirely different challenge. The struggle and the benefits that sitting meditation provides is simply ineffable and it would be a shame to limit yourself to any one thing. Humans are not known for being strong. We’re some of the weakest animals out there. People seem to forget that our greatest asset Is our MIND and to keep it closed is to limit your true potential.
meditation is very simple activity of the mind. .it could be achieved through discipline and unforced persistence from within. .in order to achieved that highest level of awareness, first and foremost, one need to empty one's mind of any flow of thoughts and any relative activity. .how to do it. .? . .lie down in a dead body posture, breath easily then put oneself into a state of passive receptivity. .focus the attention in the center between the eyes. .this directly massage your pineal gland and gives a "high" feeling of blissfulness(this feeling of blissfulness is better experienced than explained). . this could not be achieved in one, two, three or four settings. .it needs time, perseverance and uncompetitive effort before it is attained. .western culture are accustomed to instant result. .the way of yoga is the opposite. .inner equilibrium is attained by slowing down the pace of living. .if one is not willing to alter that and be at peace with oneself better stay away or refrain doing this internal activity. .
What you've described is mindfulness. There's different depth to a meditative trance -or any kind of trance really- but yes, you are right in that physical workout is no substitute to meditation. (It can put you in a trance, but there's different type/quality of trance) However, you can totally enter a dissociative state of mind through meditation. It's like a prostate orgasm though, takes a lot of practice to get there but once you do it's easy to access. So I find your view a bit too restrictive on what meditation is or isn't. It can do a lot.
Low weight, full range of motion barbell curls for 50 to 100 reps forces extreme mental focus, physical endurance, and breath work. For me, this requires the most mental focus, and builds the most mental fortitude, of anything I do.
I do ten to thirty minutes of meditation each day with interspersed moments of mindfulness or walking meditation throughout the day. I decided to give it a try after reading Tim Ferris’ book, Tools of the Titan and seeing all these super successful people attributing meditation in varying degrees to their success. I still haven’t become a millionaire or a world class athlete or anything of the sort, but I quit smoking within months and started to get my finances in order, then I noticed all my personal relationships were improving out of sight because I wasn’t such an irritable arsehole all the time. I’d recommend it to anyone, even if for only a few minutes per day.
This is said so well, straight to the point. It reminds me of a story, somebody asked an Indian sage of the past century, "Does the sage dream?". He replied, "The sage contemplates dispassionately the alternation of the 3 states." This refers to the fact that when meditation is focused, *everything* is an object of meditation. No matter if it's a physical or a mental exercise. (PS. The 3 states = being awake, being in dream sleep, and being in deep sleep.)
Moving meditation works beautifully for me. This video is a couple years old. It is filled with points of truth that transcend. Thank you for sharing MW!
Interesting idea. I've practiced moving meditation using yoga asanas, but not weighted movement. I think it's something definitely worth adding to my bag. I've never practiced a seated meditation, but I enjoy the meditation that comes with savasana after a vigorous yoga flow, and definitely won't give that up. Tho, I suppose that's different Thanks for the food for thought
Hi Mark, I'm with you on the option of doing some form of moving meditation but I feel that your comparison of older cultures being more active and ours being more sedentary, although accurate, kind of misses the point about meditation. It's really the cognitive overload that we experience on a daily basis that mindfulness practice can assist with. that can be addressed with a more active form of meditation as well but it doesn't obviate the value of sitting meditation.
Funny that you reference the Shaolin monks. Notice that even though they started training kung fu 12 hours a day they kept doing seated meditation? In fact you even said they basically only started doing kung fu to make their mediation practice stronger ( which is kinda poetic actually).
Mark - I don't agree with this take. As someone who enjoys both high-intensity workouts and seated meditation, I can tell you each has a unique physiological response. They are not interchangeable. Whether you realize it or not - this video males it clear how much you'd benefit from seated meditation, because it seems you don't even know what your missing. I encourage you to revisit this topic with an open mind.
I was a powerlifter when I was young. I stopped as I had a family and career. My weight ballooned up to 480 lbs and I got deathly ill. To recover and become active again, I started to doing tai chi. (I was a pastor at the time). This gentle activity began to restore my health and my mind. Since then, I began doing kettlebell, steelmace, heavy club, and Bulgarian Bag. I am 66 years old. I love these tools of health. While I still do seated meditation, I look at my physical activity as a much better way to remain centered while life is in motion. There is, in my mind, a greater benefit to moving meditation. Because the exercise tools are pulling the body in different directions, just as thoughts, emotions, and circcumstances pull the mind in different directions. When I can keep my mind and body centered I feel a great sense of peace and well being.
I recently found (and love) your channel and (as a long term meditator) half agree. If the goal of meditation is SIMPLY to focus the mind then a repetitive moving practice does the job as well as following the breath and gives you benefits that you can’t get sitting. If people are just looking for a mindfulness practice, and are sedentary, then you’re right. And in fact there are traditions where movement is used as the meditative object. But the goal of meditation classically is more than just mindfulness, and sitting practice is necessary (I fought against that conclusion for years, but it’s true). But, again, for many people this is good advice.
Fascinating take. Yoga before meditation is a beautiful thing. I’ve always been active and meditation has helped me quite a bit, but I like this quite a bit. Not gonna give up that practice, but Im working on adding some of this.
That is a good idea, the repetition of scales and arpeggios can get u in a kind of hypnotic yet engaged state of mind. I play guitar but same concept of course. I can see how that could be meditative.
I appreciate this perspective and I think you articulated it well. People generally need more movement. I especially like you talking about Shaolin monks as I've always admired them. However, the CORE benefit of meditation is left out of moving meditations. This benefit is the PURIFICATION benefit of meditation. Deep meditation has a housekeeping effect on the mind, allowing the person's attention to process the contents of the mind and restore the system to full health. Mental hygiene. Cleaning out emotional baggage. Vipassana from the Goenka tradition functions like this, and the short and excellent book "The Art of Living: Vipassana Meditation" explains it. The modern mind is like a mansion with hundreds of rooms filled with unprocessed material pushing up into awareness to be processed. Without being processed the material often festers and sabotages their life from the darkness. And in modern society the person doesn't process anything and instead continues filling the rooms with endless waves of NEW material (new memories/new information/new emotional reactions/new wounds), eventually leading to a critical overload that is catastrophic--mental illness, depression, panic attacks, breakdown, suicide etc. These issues are multifactorial and have multiple causes, but unprocessed material is a MAJOR one. Moving meditation doesn't allow people to sit still and perform deep mental hygiene the way that sitting meditations like Vipassana do. Temporarily clearing the conscious mind during exercise is not the same as clearing/cleaning out the unconscious mind during Vipassana. Thanks for making the videos that you do! You got a new subscriber.
Meditation isn't like putting a yoke on your mind to control it. It's giving your mind an open field to roam in and just watching it. Meditation is about non-judgmental observation, rather than controlling your mind by force. "Trying" to calm your mind is like trying to smooth rough water with an iron, you'll just stir it up even more.
Meditation was once explained to me as the orchestra tuning instruments to play before the day begins. I can do the same walking for an hour instead of sitting.
I've found that 2-pump burpees are great for focusing effort and breathing. inhale when standing exhale when getting into plank position inhale on eccentric movement exhale during concentric movement repeat for 2nd pump inhale when standing up, then exhale I've found that I get into a regular rhythm, almost a beat to follow for each rep. combine this with body tension while in the plank position, and it wipes the mind of any other concerns, as you're completely absorbed in keeping all of these points in order and synchrony.
I agree and love to meditate while moving, but speciifcity also applies to meditation and movement. And so does working the mind and the body simulatenously. You wouldn't train kettlebell swings without learning hinging first. Training moving meditation without haingm editate is the same. Want to live mindfully? Meditate and be conscious. Want to move mindfully? Meditate in movement. But gotta learn how to meditate in stilness first. More so, our sedentary lifestyles will have us in stillness most of the time. An irregular stiffness, where sometimes we talk, make cals, write in the computer, etc.... If I know how to clear my mind and release stress while moving... that information is going to transfer poorly into semi-still actiities. Gotta meditate in stillness. Yoga is meant to bring midfulness to every aspect of life, not just the mat.
Oh I don't do it either. I do moving Qigong. Coordination of breath, movement and mind. That's Bodhidharma story is folklore thought. He didn't bring Kung Fu. He brought the "Muscle/Tendon Changing and Marrow/Brain Washing Classics" Qigong sets. Which I do as part of Xingyiquan Kung Fu. We do the Marrow Washing as warm up. "The Scholar Warrior" by Deng Ming-Dao has the 24 Marrow Washing set. And Dr Yang Jwing-Ming has everything else in his book.
I've always been Sceptical of transcendental meditation. My most enjoyable form of repetitive motion is trail running. I believe it should be something you enjoy doing; walking, biking, swimming etc.
What an excellent insight. The historic work up is pretty true. The modern version is pretty well though out. Mindfulness itself is best practiced in real life anyway, from working in the kitchen to wiping your buttt. This has been a very late comment, but it is really a good insight.
Good video. Combining activity and meditation is definitely its most effective form. I swim a lot, and every session feels like meditation. It all comes down to focusing on your breath and being in the moment.
This is a misunderstanding of what meditation is...it is a common misunderstanding to think that meditation is about controlling the mind and simply relaxing. Meditation is about stillness and inquiry. Stillness is needed for inquiry. If you can find stillness in movement, wonderful, but if you cannot, you need to make the body still, so that you can watch the mind until it gets still. If you are swinging a weight around like in this video, yes, you can't think about something else, but this doesn't mean you have a quiet mind. You have a focused mind. That is good. No problem with that, but it isn't meditation. It's focused activity. Meditation is watching the fact that you are watching. It is being aware that you are aware. The purpose of meditation is self-discovery beyond the body. This whole thing is an illusion, but we are hypnotized into identifying with the body. This is the root of all fear and all suffering. Freedom from this suffering is what meditation is actually all about. Yes, a strong body can help, in that it strengthens your focus and your mind, but this is only preparation for the real work. The real work is being with what occurs without reacting to it. It is stillness and alertness. The movement described in this video would help you develop alertness of the body, but not the type of alertness that brings you back home. It doesn't take you to the source of alertness. It doesn't take you within. For that, you need meditation. And THANK YOU for your good work. It is changing my life.
I've been doing both kettlebell workouts including snatch tests etc for years on and off, and seated meditation. They're similar in a lot of ways, but not the same. Meditation is not as straight forward as you've made out, there are many aspects to it. However, kbs are definitely a sort of meditation.. Definitely makes you mentally tough and feel great and grounded. Meditation can help you in a lot of other ways though such as learning to deal with things etc. Both worth doing if you care about your health.
Meditation isn't what most people think it is. Stilling the mind is not the final goal, hearing the Truth of Silence and understanding the the true nature of reality and ones place and purpose within this illusion.
I think "seated meditation" is a false image. For many Taoists, there are other meditations that are more prominent, such as the "inner smile" technique. There are a million meditations techniques brought to us from antiquity.
What an interesting perspective. I've doing the sitting meditation. This might be better. What you say makes sense. We sit SO much already in today's culture.
OK I guess I can continue my sitting meditations. I don't have a car. Haven't had one in over 20 years and every job I've had in that time had required lots of physical activity. So I need to sit still. Besides that, there is more to why one sits still than in his explanation. Stillness is part of the goal. Just because you are not physically active, doesn't mean you are still. Its not the same. Physical exercise is important. Sitting still for too long is simply not healthy unless you ARE meditating.
I have trouble with seated meditation as my mind either wanders too much, in which case I also become a bit fidgety or, if I've had a long day, I start falling asleep. Moving meditation works better for me.
@@kalinora3901 first you need to understand that you are not the mind or the body. When I say understand it, I mean TRULY understand it. Not just know it. The fact that you can watch and hear your mind and all of its chaos is not only proof of this, but, also, the key to dealing with it. Instead of fighting against it you need, first to learn to just separate yourself from it and just watch and listen to it working WITHOUT getting caught up in the stream of thoughts. This is called mindfulness meditation. It only takes a few weeks, about three, to get good at it. Once you learn to just relax and watch the mind working the same way you do to your body, your sitting meditation will jump to a whole new level. One that, to my knowledge, no moving meditation can take you. Its life changing to be able to control your mind AND body.
I do Qi Gong, Kettlebell & that sort of loaded complex movements, Vipassana, Dance; I wouldn’t give up anyone forever. They all have an important role. I used to do only sitting meditation and in retrospective it was a big mistake.
Mark, It's sometimes hard to find time to do seated meditation with a busy schedule. That I understand. I think you'd do well to reconsider your position and revisit the seated practice. Seated meditation, Aerobic Exercise, and HIT are synergistic. You'll find this all makes perfect sense in a couple of decades.
What most people fail to understand is that there are different forms of Yoga. The most prevalent that has been commercialized was to "Reduce stress and Anxiety". The simplest way to do it is of course sitting and meditating. Meditation is form of Yoga and there are many forms of mediation too.
Mindfullness should extend to every area of your life... I am with you on the moving meditation, if you think of tai chi forms that is exactly it... I still do meditate while sitting but I do this in my sauna every day... This is the best of the two worlds - heat shock treatment with all its benefits, and sitting meditation.... The rest I try to do by moving...
Yes and no. The English word meditation is kind of a junk term; it means something different to everyone so then it doesn't really mean anything at all. If we're talking about "Vipassana bhavana", or the cultivation of mindfulness, the purpose is not to "yoke your thoughts", but to yoke your attention. It sounds pedantic, but it's a critical distinction. If you have a glass of muddy water, it's impossible to clear the water by chasing after the mud and trying to keep it still. You keep the glass steady and over time the mud settles to the bottom and the water becomes clear. With that said, I agree with Mark that for *most* people in the 21st century, some form of dynamic meditation is more appropriate, as our lives are more dynamic than a monk's. That's something that not enough people recognize when they get involved with meditation; they think they're supposed to start living and acting like monks "because enlightenment". If you want to live like a monk, shave your head and put on a robe, otherwise the goal is to develop speech and action that is appropriate to your life as a lay person in the context of trade for profit, sexual relationships, etc. Any physical activity can, and IMO *should be*, a vehicle for developing the attention, and rhythmic movements like clubs, kettlebells, running etc., that we can synch our breathing to are especially appropriate (as opposed to barbell movements where it becomes more like a series of breath holds punctuated by periodic recovery). The problem is that most people are listening to music or a TV during exercise to distract themselves from being uncomfortable rather than listening to their body and their breathing, and without understanding "the big picture", even for those who do use training time to be present, we can develop "stillness within movement", but when we put the weight down we go back to being our regular selves. We get a "state" change rather than a "trait" change that truly transforms us (to be fair, we see the same thing in people who practice seated meditation for decades and well). With that in mind, there's still a need to find a good teacher and get a solid grasp of how to properly train the mind and recognize the five hindrances, then we can use any kind of training we want and it can become truly transformative. Takuan Soho's letters to the Samurai discussing the immovable mind and the sword are a good example of this.
Love your KB videos, very informative and knowledgeable. Physical exercise done in harmonious fashion is a good way of getting your mind into focus, but it has its limit. If mental focus is the only aim, then this is good..... Mental focus is just one of the many befits of meditation.
Interesting ideas on this and it makes a lot of sense. I can't not do seated meditation at night, it's too helpful for me as my mind is way to active all day and this helps give me a sort of soft reset. I'm also doing prayer as well, but that's a different ball game. I'm also finding shooting my gun as being it's own form of mediation
Some really interesting insights into how mindfulness & movement can work hand-in-hand (and how seated/still meditation can benefit from strength). But I think you mischaracterize, or narrowly characterize, what meditation is all about. It *can* be about 'yoking' or 'clearing' the mind. Just as often, it is about revealing how wild (play on word intended) the mind is. Seated, still meditation is a kind of blank canvas against which we can see just how wild & chaotic our 'monkey mind' truly is. Glimpsing our monkey mind doesn't allow us to control it so much as make an awkward peace with it. Meditation is also a blank canvas against which we can see our deepest fears & anxieties rise and fall. Thus, it is really a still approach to what you talk about elsewhere: becoming comfortable with discomfort, although here the focus is on mental, emotional, spiritual discomfort. And it yields insights & growth I don't think you get from moving meditation. (Although parenthetically I will add that there is much to be gained from Qi Gong poses that are a kind of standing meditation, as an alternative to seated meditation, given how much time we spend sitting.) But having said all that: Love your channel, your insights, your voice, your nerdiness, and learning a lot from you.
Quieting the mind is fundamentally not what meditation is about; rather increasing awareness of the thoughts/emotions/impulses that appear so we can eventually become better at not giving in to these things and driving the bus ourselves rather than letting the voices in our heads dictate how we feel/act.
I would add Baking to a list of active jobs. If you are not constantly moving you are dining it wrong. It is constant progression of lift and moving 10-25 kilos 4-8 hours. In fact I would love to have a program for people like me who works out most of the day but wants to improve other parts of my life. For me it’s running. Mark!!!!! I have been really loving your videos and would cherish your input!!!
Excellent perspective on modern mediation! I always felt like club/mace swinging is a meditation…I do think the occasional isolation float tank therapy is enjoyable though
Hi Mark I am very intrigued by your approach and the way you think, I am 68 years old and try to maintain some fitness level but due too some previous very heavy injuries it is very difficult but I am not one to give up. I'm just wondering if you have any specific suggestions for someone my age, I used to and still do weight lifting but I know that it is not sufficient by now to help me to become the more healthy fit and I am starting to use a Kettle Bell now and try to follow our posts, I think you are a very smart person and has the right mindset and way thinking.
You are correct. Osho has mentioned this many times hence his dynamic meditation. Modern humans are complicated than they were back 2500 years back(Buddha age). We are carrying a lot of emotional burden in our day to day lives and osho says for us it's almost impossible to sit idle and meditate. So the idea of his is that first stage focuses on take out all energy from your body via movements that are not in your muscle memory neither they should be straining your brain. Once your hear rate is very high and you are physically drained to a point you start loosing the Sense of your body, at that point one should focus on their breathe and be in the moment. It is much much easier at that moment when all your body wants and need is breathe...just breath in and breath out
I'm now here at the right time, with the right motivation, and background in pumping iron - these complex movements and flexibility are exactly what i need YES!
You have controversial title, but I do agree with your view. We modern people too much on sitting alone... Need more workout, more moving... Although still need seated meditation. You can go to moving mediation too i.e Qigong.. You can go soft or hard... And of course you can go to the most extreme, kung fu...
It used to be that Longshoreman was considered to be the "fittest" occupation and I believe that was due to having the lowest incidence of heart disease among other factors. However, with the shift to containers I'm not sure if that is true any longer. Personally, I feel like I can meditate when I go for my afternoon walk, which is usually in a nearby park, so I like your idea of focusing my mind while performing a basic human movement too.
If one is concentrating on the moves I.e. 100 swings - one definitely has to be “ in the zone” so that each swing or snatch is done perfectly - no time for wondering when dinner will be served.
This is a great perspective. I've also been thinking recently the eastern idea of removing desire is a massive conceit. More helpful is using focus to channel energy rather than block it off. Sitting and being is the conceit that theres nothing to do. Its not peace its repression.
We need to detach from vain ideas and activities as well as the ego. Meditation helps you to remain detached and objective versus being on an emotional rollercoaster and having a runaway monkey mind.
@@joanmorgan5318 The ego is highly misunderstood and is the driver of the soul while in the physical body. You can never detach from it. Strengthen and train the ego so that one does not lose control of themselves. Exercises that are meant to suppress or "detach" from the ego hurt more in the long run than help. I have an idea of what you mean though. In the end, it's all about balance. It's okay to have emotions, but don't let them control you. It's okay to have desires, but do not let them overtake you. Balance is always the key be it mentally, spiritually, or physically.
Thanks for this Mark. Very much appreciated. I have long considered physical movement as far more valuable to the entire human being than merely the banal western interests in getting flat abs, etc.
The point here is not that you are having an experience, but that you are synonymous with experience, whether you’re swinging some boss clubs or sitting crisscross applesauce, or evening drooling at your computer at work wondering why you chose this job, that you really didn’t, that you... you get it. After reading the discourse bellow, maybe a good suggestion would be to make a healthy body to have a sitting body. Motion, strength, and health will allow you to find equilibrium with greater ease when you sit. Yes all people aren’t going to take the fitness route, but if you’re here reading this, welcome to the fitness route my friend! I like to compare our eyes to light escaping from a ball that is trapping that light. Imagine infinite pinpricks allowing light to escape. We are each a pinprick to the same light, of the same ball, only this ball is not third dimensionally round. It’s like, cosmically multidimensional ya know. Think about that when you swing club/bell and breath 👽 or when you sit and really should be watching your thoughts rather than intentionally creating them.
I would recommend to practice Sadhana with one of Dada's. They will explain how you need to do sustain body/mind balance and ect. Not agree at all Mark.
This makes so much sense to me, I'm ADHD and have always struggled with the concept of meditation and stilling my mind. I have in the past appreciated the mental state achieved with running or cycling and strived to achieve the point of syncronising breathing and movement while participating. I've long felt the benefits I gained sounded just like those that others achieved with seated meditation. Thank you for this perspective, it's really helped
Really like your channel Mark, you raise some interesting points. I think on this one you might be surprised as to the benefit of a meditation /. Mindfulness practice, the studies by Dr Ellen langer (on TH-cam) are very interesting, and with modern HRV heart rate monitors, you can instantly see the effect, its measureable stress response training, from parasympathetic nervous system to sympathetic nervous system. I think you would like. I’m a martial artist, gymnastic strength practitioner, and I didn’t realise the benefits, but I’m absolutely a convert now, especially because its a modern world. All the best, great content.
If you can effectively meditate whilst exercising or running, more power to you, but I think, for most people that do not have a developed meditation practice, developing an attention to one's consciousness is difficult enough as is without also expounding attention and effort towards other thoughts and activities. Basically I don't think this is practical advice at all in terms of developing mindfulness. It's not really about "clearing the mind".
sure, moving with a heavy club will give you some mental benefits. Even the fact of putting your phone down and not scrolling for 10 minutes will give you some mental relief. That's like you getting up from your couch and walking around the house will give you some leg exercise. But it's nowhere near what a systematic leg workout can do for your quads. I totally agree that people need more movement. However, saying because they need more movement they shouldnt practice seated meditation is like saying because they need more sleep they shouldn't pracitice squats (but sleep instead). Movement and Meditation are two different things. Where the body needs movement to be healthy, the mind needs stillness to be healthy. (this is by Ajahn Chah, a meditation master) The body and the mind need different nurishments. Meditation can be practiced in postures such as walking, lying, seated and standing. Ultimately though, to go into deeper levels of stillness it is necessary to keep the body still too. So long as your mind needs some part of it's attention to look after what the body does, it cannot get very focused and still. That being said, I agree that moving in repetitive ways will promote some mental calm and it might actually be a great in-between step for anyone who has been racing around and multitasking all day and who will likely not be ready yet to sit down and drop it all at once.
Hey Mark, loved the video. I love doing yoga and always considered it a moving meditation. Do you know how I could load my practice as you are suggesting to have movement for a timed period under a load?
Ashtanga yoga might be closer to what you point out as moving meditation. I find that crossfit is not that different either (if you take away the loud music)
I think you're right about the benefits of meditation through movement. I believe seated meditation is unique in that it allows for unique inward insight on a subconscious level, especially through guided meditation. There is a place for both forms of meditation.
My goodness! Finally found someone who understands and PREACHES what I tell people! I use powerlifting, power yoga, and pre-hip joint injury kickboxing and cross fit to MEDITATE. People think I'm crazy or aggressive when I tell them about that, they don't understand that PHYSICAL INTENSITY IS my way of turning off my brain. I sleep like a baby after such intense training days! Thank you for not making me feel like an alien!
I don’t meditate. I pray. However, praying is far easier when cleaning, gardening, running, cooking, etc. moving my body helps to still the mind.
@@myrtle1234 Absolutely!!
Where have you been all my life? The level of sanity in your vids is a tonic to my soul. I'm so excited to have found you! I resonate in such a satisfying way with your perspective and intellect....yeh, let me stop...but i could go on...😆.
As a construction worker that likes to work out and has a toddler and a house to maintain, I really need to learn the sitting meditation. Sometimes I forget what sitting feels like!
Yeah.... this video isn’t targeted to you! You move so much you are on the need seated meditation side of things
Interesting new perspective.....but from the standpoint of unplugging from technology that has been integrated into our personal and professional lives, just sitting for 10-20 minutes and breathing might be a welcome respite.
What he's saying is that unplugging from technology and moving is a better respite than unplugging and sitting because we sit way too much already.
You're both right, we sit too much but seated meditation can still be very valuable. Moving as much as we can is important but it's not a substitute for sitting quietly and observing the mind with intention.
Big misconception right from the start: Meditation is not about "clearing your mind", "yolking [?] the thoughts from your mind", or even really controlling your mind. It's about witnessing what goes on with clarity. In order to even realize that our mind is constantly creating thoughts (which most people don't, because they are actually identified with their thoughts, they think that they ARE the voice inside their head) and to create a space from which to observe them, you usually start by focusing on the breath (or a candle flame or a mantra, whatever), because without a clear point of focus, you are almost definitely going to get pulled away by the never-ending stream of thoughts very quickly.
People have this image in their head of meditation of sitting cross-legged, all blissful and happy, with a completely still mind. This could not be further from the truth most of the time. The process of meditation is about increasing awareness. A lot of the stuff of which you become aware, you might not like. But instead of distracting yourself or trying to change your state by working out, listening to music, working, checking social media and emails, getting a beer, jerking off or having sex or any other number of activities you can think of, you do your best to just be curious and look at whatever's occuring at the moment, in your mind, in your body, or even around you. A calmer mind is the end result of lots of hours spent in meditation, just like a herculean physique is the end result of lots of hours spent working out. In both endeavours, it would be foolish to expect huge results after just a few sessions.
Kettlebell training, dynamic meditation or any form of physical workout for that matter (even yoga) is NOT a substitute for traditional meditation. Of course exercise is still very good for you, but it will not expand your awareness in the same way.
We, as citizens of the modern world, actually need meditation more than anyone else before us in history, because we have so many distractions pulling at us from every direction each and every day. Our attention has become a very valuable commodity and there's a war going on for it. So, if you have very little awareness over how you direct your attention, your life is going to fall victim to this war and your attention is going to be controlled by which ever company is most effective at manipulating you. So, I have to say, I find it downright irresponsible to tell people to kettlebell (which I do, btw), INSTEAD of meditating. It is simply not the same and will not produce the same benefits. Why not just do a little of both?
Christopher very well said. I would even add that although I respect what point he’s making he seems to be missing the bigger picture which is that there’s something about consciously deciding to actively sit down and do nothing on a daily basis. Yes we move less in modern day but our minds surely don’t. Constant stimulation by technology has made our minds absolutely desperate for instant gratification to the point where even if we are sitting on a couch all day we still can’t seem to quite “sit still” when you workout, sure it’s a meditative experience that shares some common ground with traditional sitting meditation but when you only meditate physically active like he suggests, you get to satisfy that part of your brain that can’t quite sit still While ,like I said earlier when you consciously decide to sit and do nothing and try your best to just be present it provides an entirely different challenge. The struggle and the benefits that sitting meditation provides is simply ineffable and it would be a shame to limit yourself to any one thing. Humans are not known for being strong. We’re some of the weakest animals out there. People seem to forget that our greatest asset Is our MIND and to keep it closed is to limit your true potential.
@@John-noon Good point 👍🏼
meditation is very simple activity of the mind. .it could be achieved through discipline and unforced persistence from within. .in order to achieved that highest level of awareness, first and foremost, one need to empty one's mind of any flow of thoughts and any relative activity. .how to do it. .? . .lie down in a dead body posture, breath easily then put oneself into a state of passive receptivity. .focus the attention in the center between the eyes. .this directly massage your pineal gland and gives a "high" feeling of blissfulness(this feeling of blissfulness is better experienced than explained). . this could not be achieved in one, two, three or four settings. .it needs time, perseverance and uncompetitive effort before it is attained. .western culture are accustomed to instant result. .the way of yoga is the opposite. .inner equilibrium is attained by slowing down the pace of living. .if one is not willing to alter that and be at peace with oneself better stay away or refrain doing this internal activity. .
What you've described is mindfulness. There's different depth to a meditative trance -or any kind of trance really- but yes, you are right in that physical workout is no substitute to meditation. (It can put you in a trance, but there's different type/quality of trance)
However, you can totally enter a dissociative state of mind through meditation. It's like a prostate orgasm though, takes a lot of practice to get there but once you do it's easy to access. So I find your view a bit too restrictive on what meditation is or isn't. It can do a lot.
Well said!
Low weight, full range of motion barbell curls for 50 to 100 reps forces extreme mental focus, physical endurance, and breath work. For me, this requires the most mental focus, and builds the most mental fortitude, of anything I do.
Interesting. I’ll give it a shot
I do ten to thirty minutes of meditation each day with interspersed moments of mindfulness or walking meditation throughout the day. I decided to give it a try after reading Tim Ferris’ book, Tools of the Titan and seeing all these super successful people attributing meditation in varying degrees to their success.
I still haven’t become a millionaire or a world class athlete or anything of the sort, but I quit smoking within months and started to get my finances in order, then I noticed all my personal relationships were improving out of sight because I wasn’t such an irritable arsehole all the time. I’d recommend it to anyone, even if for only a few minutes per day.
Confucius says, "Order kettlebell"...
maybe not Kettlebell, Confucius was a martial art practicer.
Ok.... stone padlock. The Chinese granite kettlebells of shaolin
This is said so well, straight to the point. It reminds me of a story, somebody asked an Indian sage of the past century, "Does the sage dream?". He replied, "The sage contemplates dispassionately the alternation of the 3 states." This refers to the fact that when meditation is focused, *everything* is an object of meditation. No matter if it's a physical or a mental exercise.
(PS. The 3 states = being awake, being in dream sleep, and being in deep sleep.)
Moving meditation works beautifully for me. This video is a couple years old. It is filled with points of truth that transcend. Thank you for sharing MW!
Thank you. Many seated meditators don’t seem to like the ideas much. Glad you find value in it
Interesting idea. I've practiced moving meditation using yoga asanas, but not weighted movement. I think it's something definitely worth adding to my bag. I've never practiced a seated meditation, but I enjoy the meditation that comes with savasana after a vigorous yoga flow, and definitely won't give that up. Tho, I suppose that's different
Thanks for the food for thought
First time ever seeing a club bell used. Graceful. I could get into that.
Hi Mark, I'm with you on the option of doing some form of moving meditation but I feel that your comparison of older cultures being more active and ours being more sedentary, although accurate, kind of misses the point about meditation. It's really the cognitive overload that we experience on a daily basis that mindfulness practice can assist with. that can be addressed with a more active form of meditation as well but it doesn't obviate the value of sitting meditation.
Agreed 100%.
agreed 200%
Funny that you reference the Shaolin monks. Notice that even though they started training kung fu 12 hours a day they kept doing seated meditation? In fact you even said they basically only started doing kung fu to make their mediation practice stronger ( which is kinda poetic actually).
Mark - I don't agree with this take. As someone who enjoys both high-intensity workouts and seated meditation, I can tell you each has a unique physiological response. They are not interchangeable.
Whether you realize it or not - this video males it clear how much you'd benefit from seated meditation, because it seems you don't even know what your missing. I encourage you to revisit this topic with an open mind.
I was a powerlifter when I was young. I stopped as I had a family and career. My weight ballooned up to 480 lbs and I got deathly ill. To recover and become active again, I started to doing tai chi. (I was a pastor at the time). This gentle activity began to restore my health and my mind. Since then, I began doing kettlebell, steelmace, heavy club, and Bulgarian Bag. I am 66 years old. I love these tools of health. While I still do seated meditation, I look at my physical activity as a much better way to remain centered while life is in motion. There is, in my mind, a greater benefit to moving meditation. Because the exercise tools are pulling the body in different directions, just as thoughts, emotions, and circcumstances pull the mind in different directions. When I can keep my mind and body centered I feel a great sense of peace and well being.
Just make every action a conscious action it becomes meditation, and every action becomes a good action, the action could be mind or body.
Practice skills of kettlebell or a Martial art are two Kind of meditation. I agree absolutely
I recently found (and love) your channel and (as a long term meditator) half agree.
If the goal of meditation is SIMPLY to focus the mind then a repetitive moving practice does the job as well as following the breath and gives you benefits that you can’t get sitting. If people are just looking for a mindfulness practice, and are sedentary, then you’re right. And in fact there are traditions where movement is used as the meditative object.
But the goal of meditation classically is more than just mindfulness, and sitting practice is necessary (I fought against that conclusion for years, but it’s true).
But, again, for many people this is good advice.
agree.
Fascinating take. Yoga before meditation is a beautiful thing. I’ve always been active and meditation has helped me quite a bit, but I like this quite a bit. Not gonna give up that practice, but Im working on adding some of this.
Or play scales and/or arpeggios on your piano to clear your mind
Not the same, at all.
That is a good idea, the repetition of scales and arpeggios can get u in a kind of hypnotic yet engaged state of mind. I play guitar but same concept of course. I can see how that could be meditative.
What I like most about moving meditation is that you can do it at anytime, no matter what task you may be doing.
I appreciate this perspective and I think you articulated it well. People generally need more movement. I especially like you talking about Shaolin monks as I've always admired them. However, the CORE benefit of meditation is left out of moving meditations.
This benefit is the PURIFICATION benefit of meditation. Deep meditation has a housekeeping effect on the mind, allowing the person's attention to process the contents of the mind and restore the system to full health. Mental hygiene. Cleaning out emotional baggage. Vipassana from the Goenka tradition functions like this, and the short and excellent book "The Art of Living: Vipassana Meditation" explains it.
The modern mind is like a mansion with hundreds of rooms filled with unprocessed material pushing up into awareness to be processed. Without being processed the material often festers and sabotages their life from the darkness.
And in modern society the person doesn't process anything and instead continues filling the rooms with endless waves of NEW material (new memories/new information/new emotional reactions/new wounds), eventually leading to a critical overload that is catastrophic--mental illness, depression, panic attacks, breakdown, suicide etc. These issues are multifactorial and have multiple causes, but unprocessed material is a MAJOR one.
Moving meditation doesn't allow people to sit still and perform deep mental hygiene the way that sitting meditations like Vipassana do. Temporarily clearing the conscious mind during exercise is not the same as clearing/cleaning out the unconscious mind during Vipassana.
Thanks for making the videos that you do! You got a new subscriber.
Meditation isn't like putting a yoke on your mind to control it. It's giving your mind an open field to roam in and just watching it. Meditation is about non-judgmental observation, rather than controlling your mind by force. "Trying" to calm your mind is like trying to smooth rough water with an iron, you'll just stir it up even more.
Meditation was once explained to me as the orchestra tuning instruments to play before the day begins.
I can do the same walking for an hour instead of sitting.
I agree
I've found that 2-pump burpees are great for focusing effort and breathing.
inhale when standing
exhale when getting into plank position
inhale on eccentric movement
exhale during concentric movement
repeat for 2nd pump
inhale when standing up, then exhale
I've found that I get into a regular rhythm, almost a beat to follow for each rep.
combine this with body tension while in the plank position, and it wipes the mind of any other concerns, as you're completely absorbed in keeping all of these points in order and synchrony.
I agree and love to meditate while moving, but speciifcity also applies to meditation and movement. And so does working the mind and the body simulatenously.
You wouldn't train kettlebell swings without learning hinging first. Training moving meditation without haingm editate is the same.
Want to live mindfully? Meditate and be conscious.
Want to move mindfully? Meditate in movement. But gotta learn how to meditate in stilness first.
More so, our sedentary lifestyles will have us in stillness most of the time. An irregular stiffness, where sometimes we talk, make cals, write in the computer, etc....
If I know how to clear my mind and release stress while moving... that information is going to transfer poorly into semi-still actiities.
Gotta meditate in stillness. Yoga is meant to bring midfulness to every aspect of life, not just the mat.
Oh I don't do it either. I do moving Qigong. Coordination of breath, movement and mind.
That's Bodhidharma story is folklore thought. He didn't bring Kung Fu. He brought the "Muscle/Tendon Changing and Marrow/Brain Washing Classics" Qigong sets. Which I do as part of Xingyiquan Kung Fu. We do the Marrow Washing as warm up.
"The Scholar Warrior" by Deng Ming-Dao has the 24 Marrow Washing set. And Dr Yang Jwing-Ming has everything else in his book.
I've always been Sceptical of transcendental meditation. My most enjoyable form of repetitive motion is trail running. I believe it should be something you enjoy doing; walking, biking, swimming etc.
What an excellent insight. The historic work up is pretty true. The modern version is pretty well though out. Mindfulness itself is best practiced in real life anyway, from working in the kitchen to wiping your buttt. This has been a very late comment, but it is really a good insight.
Sijo Mark Wildman ... Much respect good sir.
Good video. Combining activity and meditation is definitely its most effective form. I swim a lot, and every session feels like meditation. It all comes down to focusing on your breath and being in the moment.
Excellent, anything you do, you have to focus your mind on will clear your mind from all other thoughts. Thank you. 🙏❤️🙏🥋🥋
This is a misunderstanding of what meditation is...it is a common misunderstanding to think that meditation is about controlling the mind and simply relaxing. Meditation is about stillness and inquiry. Stillness is needed for inquiry. If you can find stillness in movement, wonderful, but if you cannot, you need to make the body still, so that you can watch the mind until it gets still. If you are swinging a weight around like in this video, yes, you can't think about something else, but this doesn't mean you have a quiet mind. You have a focused mind. That is good. No problem with that, but it isn't meditation. It's focused activity. Meditation is watching the fact that you are watching. It is being aware that you are aware. The purpose of meditation is self-discovery beyond the body. This whole thing is an illusion, but we are hypnotized into identifying with the body. This is the root of all fear and all suffering. Freedom from this suffering is what meditation is actually all about. Yes, a strong body can help, in that it strengthens your focus and your mind, but this is only preparation for the real work.
The real work is being with what occurs without reacting to it. It is stillness and alertness. The movement described in this video would help you develop alertness of the body, but not the type of alertness that brings you back home. It doesn't take you to the source of alertness. It doesn't take you within. For that, you need meditation.
And THANK YOU for your good work. It is changing my life.
I've been doing both kettlebell workouts including snatch tests etc for years on and off, and seated meditation. They're similar in a lot of ways, but not the same. Meditation is not as straight forward as you've made out, there are many aspects to it. However, kbs are definitely a sort of meditation.. Definitely makes you mentally tough and feel great and grounded. Meditation can help you in a lot of other ways though such as learning to deal with things etc. Both worth doing if you care about your health.
Meditation isn't what most people think it is. Stilling the mind is not the final goal, hearing the Truth of Silence and understanding the the true nature of reality and ones place and purpose within this illusion.
Thank you Mr. Wildman...this video makes sense!
I think "seated meditation" is a false image. For many Taoists, there are other meditations that are more prominent, such as the "inner smile" technique. There are a million meditations techniques brought to us from antiquity.
What an interesting perspective. I've doing the sitting meditation. This might be better. What you say makes sense. We sit SO much already in today's culture.
OK I guess I can continue my sitting meditations. I don't have a car. Haven't had one in over 20 years and every job I've had in that time had required lots of physical activity. So I need to sit still. Besides that, there is more to why one sits still than in his explanation.
Stillness is part of the goal. Just because you are not physically active, doesn't mean you are still. Its not the same.
Physical exercise is important. Sitting still for too long is simply not healthy unless you ARE meditating.
I have trouble with seated meditation as my mind either wanders too much, in which case I also become a bit fidgety or, if I've had a long day, I start falling asleep. Moving meditation works better for me.
@@kalinora3901 first you need to understand that you are not the mind or the body. When I say understand it, I mean TRULY understand it. Not just know it.
The fact that you can watch and hear your mind and all of its chaos is not only proof of this, but, also, the key to dealing with it.
Instead of fighting against it you need, first to learn to just separate yourself from it and just watch and listen to it working WITHOUT getting caught up in the stream of thoughts.
This is called mindfulness meditation. It only takes a few weeks, about three, to get good at it.
Once you learn to just relax and watch the mind working the same way you do to your body, your sitting meditation will jump to a whole new level. One that, to my knowledge, no moving meditation can take you. Its life changing to be able to control your mind AND body.
I agree. We are seated long enough in our daily lives.
I do Qi Gong, Kettlebell & that sort of loaded complex movements, Vipassana, Dance; I wouldn’t give up anyone forever. They all have an important role.
I used to do only sitting meditation and in retrospective it was a big mistake.
Mark, It's sometimes hard to find time to do seated meditation with a busy schedule. That I understand. I think you'd do well to reconsider your position and revisit the seated practice. Seated meditation, Aerobic Exercise, and HIT are synergistic. You'll find this all makes perfect sense in a couple of decades.
Great! Thanks. I think so too!
Mark you have an awesome meditation practice. Your understanding of meditation is way off but your practice is right on.
Beautiful movement!
😄 exactly! If u can think of something take a heavier club!
What most people fail to understand is that there are different forms of Yoga. The most prevalent that has been commercialized was to "Reduce stress and Anxiety". The simplest way to do it is of course sitting and meditating. Meditation is form of Yoga and there are many forms of mediation too.
Nothing makes me feel better than good training session with good breathing. Spot on!
Mindfullness should extend to every area of your life... I am with you on the moving meditation, if you think of tai chi forms that is exactly it... I still do meditate while sitting but I do this in my sauna every day... This is the best of the two worlds - heat shock treatment with all its benefits, and sitting meditation.... The rest I try to do by moving...
That's a good point!
Yes and no. The English word meditation is kind of a junk term; it means something different to everyone so then it doesn't really mean anything at all.
If we're talking about "Vipassana bhavana", or the cultivation of mindfulness, the purpose is not to "yoke your thoughts", but to yoke your attention. It sounds pedantic, but it's a critical distinction.
If you have a glass of muddy water, it's impossible to clear the water by chasing after the mud and trying to keep it still. You keep the glass steady and over time the mud settles to the bottom and the water becomes clear.
With that said, I agree with Mark that for *most* people in the 21st century, some form of dynamic meditation is more appropriate, as our lives are more dynamic than a monk's. That's something that not enough people recognize when they get involved with meditation; they think they're supposed to start living and acting like monks "because enlightenment".
If you want to live like a monk, shave your head and put on a robe, otherwise the goal is to develop speech and action that is appropriate to your life as a lay person in the context of trade for profit, sexual relationships, etc.
Any physical activity can, and IMO *should be*, a vehicle for developing the attention, and rhythmic movements like clubs, kettlebells, running etc., that we can synch our breathing to are especially appropriate (as opposed to barbell movements where it becomes more like a series of breath holds punctuated by periodic recovery).
The problem is that most people are listening to music or a TV during exercise to distract themselves from being uncomfortable rather than listening to their body and their breathing, and without understanding "the big picture", even for those who do use training time to be present, we can develop "stillness within movement", but when we put the weight down we go back to being our regular selves. We get a "state" change rather than a "trait" change that truly transforms us (to be fair, we see the same thing in people who practice seated meditation for decades and well).
With that in mind, there's still a need to find a good teacher and get a solid grasp of how to properly train the mind and recognize the five hindrances, then we can use any kind of training we want and it can become truly transformative.
Takuan Soho's letters to the Samurai discussing the immovable mind and the sword are a good example of this.
Great perspective thanks!
Love your KB videos, very informative and knowledgeable. Physical exercise done in harmonious fashion is a good way of getting your mind into focus, but it has its limit. If mental focus is the only aim, then this is good..... Mental focus is just one of the many befits of meditation.
We should all find time to turn off the TV, put down the cellphone, let your mind be quiet for a while.
Interesting ideas on this and it makes a lot of sense. I can't not do seated meditation at night, it's too helpful for me as my mind is way to active all day and this helps give me a sort of soft reset. I'm also doing prayer as well, but that's a different ball game. I'm also finding shooting my gun as being it's own form of mediation
Some really interesting insights into how mindfulness & movement can work hand-in-hand (and how seated/still meditation can benefit from strength). But I think you mischaracterize, or narrowly characterize, what meditation is all about. It *can* be about 'yoking' or 'clearing' the mind. Just as often, it is about revealing how wild (play on word intended) the mind is. Seated, still meditation is a kind of blank canvas against which we can see just how wild & chaotic our 'monkey mind' truly is. Glimpsing our monkey mind doesn't allow us to control it so much as make an awkward peace with it. Meditation is also a blank canvas against which we can see our deepest fears & anxieties rise and fall. Thus, it is really a still approach to what you talk about elsewhere: becoming comfortable with discomfort, although here the focus is on mental, emotional, spiritual discomfort. And it yields insights & growth I don't think you get from moving meditation. (Although parenthetically I will add that there is much to be gained from Qi Gong poses that are a kind of standing meditation, as an alternative to seated meditation, given how much time we spend sitting.) But having said all that: Love your channel, your insights, your voice, your nerdiness, and learning a lot from you.
Quieting the mind is fundamentally not what meditation is about; rather increasing awareness of the thoughts/emotions/impulses that appear so we can eventually become better at not giving in to these things and driving the bus ourselves rather than letting the voices in our heads dictate how we feel/act.
K
I would add Baking to a list of active jobs. If you are not constantly moving you are dining it wrong. It is constant progression of lift and moving 10-25 kilos 4-8 hours. In fact I would love to have a program for people like me who works out most of the day but wants to improve other parts of my life. For me it’s running. Mark!!!!! I have been really loving your videos and would cherish your input!!!
Excellent perspective on modern mediation! I always felt like club/mace swinging is a meditation…I do think the occasional isolation float tank therapy is enjoyable though
Hi Mark I am very intrigued by your approach and the way you think, I am 68 years old and try to maintain some fitness level but due too some previous very heavy injuries it is very difficult but I am not one to give up. I'm just wondering if you have any specific suggestions for someone my age, I used to and still do weight lifting but I know that it is not sufficient by now to help me to become the more healthy fit and I am starting to use a Kettle Bell now and try to follow our posts, I think you are a very smart person and has the right mindset and way thinking.
You are correct. Osho has mentioned this many times hence his dynamic meditation. Modern humans are complicated than they were back 2500 years back(Buddha age). We are carrying a lot of emotional burden in our day to day lives and osho says for us it's almost impossible to sit idle and meditate. So the idea of his is that first stage focuses on take out all energy from your body via movements that are not in your muscle memory neither they should be straining your brain. Once your hear rate is very high and you are physically drained to a point you start loosing the Sense of your body, at that point one should focus on their breathe and be in the moment. It is much much easier at that moment when all your body wants and need is breathe...just breath in and breath out
Osho is a discredited hack and abusive fake guru
I'm now here at the right time, with the right motivation, and background in pumping iron - these complex movements and flexibility are exactly what i need YES!
This is actually a warm up used in traditional Iranian wrestling!
Good point
You have controversial title, but I do agree with your view. We modern people too much on sitting alone... Need more workout, more moving... Although still need seated meditation. You can go to moving mediation too i.e Qigong.. You can go soft or hard... And of course you can go to the most extreme, kung fu...
It used to be that Longshoreman was considered to be the "fittest" occupation and I believe that was due to having the lowest incidence of heart disease among other factors. However, with the shift to containers I'm not sure if that is true any longer. Personally, I feel like I can meditate when I go for my afternoon walk, which is usually in a nearby park, so I like your idea of focusing my mind while performing a basic human movement too.
If one is concentrating on the moves I.e. 100 swings - one definitely has to be “ in the zone” so that each swing or snatch is done perfectly - no time for wondering when dinner will be served.
I love meditation after I workout. But I lie down and clear my mind
I feel like I’ve been seen! I do this when out for hikes, dog walks.
Interesting point! Thanks for sharing Mark!
This is a great perspective. I've also been thinking recently the eastern idea of removing desire is a massive conceit. More helpful is using focus to channel energy rather than block it off. Sitting and being is the conceit that theres nothing to do. Its not peace its repression.
That's not meditation bro.
We need to detach from vain ideas and activities as well as the ego. Meditation helps you to remain detached and objective versus being on an emotional rollercoaster and having a runaway monkey mind.
@@joanmorgan5318 The ego is highly misunderstood and is the driver of the soul while in the physical body. You can never detach from it. Strengthen and train the ego so that one does not lose control of themselves. Exercises that are meant to suppress or "detach" from the ego hurt more in the long run than help. I have an idea of what you mean though. In the end, it's all about balance. It's okay to have emotions, but don't let them control you. It's okay to have desires, but do not let them overtake you. Balance is always the key be it mentally, spiritually, or physically.
Thanks for this Mark. Very much appreciated. I have long considered physical movement as far more valuable to the entire human being than merely the banal western interests in getting flat abs, etc.
The point here is not that you are having an experience, but that you are synonymous with experience, whether you’re swinging some boss clubs or sitting crisscross applesauce, or evening drooling at your computer at work wondering why you chose this job, that you really didn’t, that you... you get it.
After reading the discourse bellow, maybe a good suggestion would be to make a healthy body to have a sitting body. Motion, strength, and health will allow you to find equilibrium with greater ease when you sit. Yes all people aren’t going to take the fitness route, but if you’re here reading this, welcome to the fitness route my friend!
I like to compare our eyes to light escaping from a ball that is trapping that light. Imagine infinite pinpricks allowing light to escape. We are each a pinprick to the same light, of the same ball, only this ball is not third dimensionally round. It’s like, cosmically multidimensional ya know. Think about that when you swing club/bell and breath 👽 or when you sit and really should be watching your thoughts rather than intentionally creating them.
I am sat down with a cup of tea watching a whole playlist of Wildman videos. This is engaging and massively informative - thank you.
Absolutely..this was in my thought process for long time..action as meditation..
I think I would use a macebell instead of heavy clubs. Swinging a mace is more calming than swinging clubs.
True. Exercise is meditation.
I would recommend to practice Sadhana with one of Dada's. They will explain how you need to do sustain body/mind balance and ect. Not agree at all Mark.
This makes so much sense to me, I'm ADHD and have always struggled with the concept of meditation and stilling my mind. I have in the past appreciated the mental state achieved with running or cycling and strived to achieve the point of syncronising breathing and movement while participating. I've long felt the benefits I gained sounded just like those that others achieved with seated meditation. Thank you for this perspective, it's really helped
I agree with you, I do the same.
Doing both is great
Really like your channel Mark, you raise some interesting points. I think on this one you might be surprised as to the benefit of a meditation /. Mindfulness practice, the studies by Dr Ellen langer (on TH-cam) are very interesting, and with modern HRV heart rate monitors, you can instantly see the effect, its measureable stress response training, from parasympathetic nervous system to sympathetic nervous system. I think you would like. I’m a martial artist, gymnastic strength practitioner, and I didn’t realise the benefits, but I’m absolutely a convert now, especially because its a modern world. All the best, great content.
If you can effectively meditate whilst exercising or running, more power to you, but I think, for most people that do not have a developed meditation practice, developing an attention to one's consciousness is difficult enough as is without also expounding attention and effort towards other thoughts and activities. Basically I don't think this is practical advice at all in terms of developing mindfulness. It's not really about "clearing the mind".
i like tai chi as moving meditation
i do love a good chen style. i use to love Xing Yi, but i don't know anyone who does it anymore
Wow. Agree 💯%. I don’t meditate neither. Now I have good knowledge about meditation.👍🏾
sure, moving with a heavy club will give you some mental benefits. Even the fact of putting your phone down and not scrolling for 10 minutes will give you some mental relief. That's like you getting up from your couch and walking around the house will give you some leg exercise. But it's nowhere near what a systematic leg workout can do for your quads.
I totally agree that people need more movement. However, saying because they need more movement they shouldnt practice seated meditation is like saying because they need more sleep they shouldn't pracitice squats (but sleep instead).
Movement and Meditation are two different things. Where the body needs movement to be healthy, the mind needs stillness to be healthy. (this is by Ajahn Chah, a meditation master) The body and the mind need different nurishments.
Meditation can be practiced in postures such as walking, lying, seated and standing. Ultimately though, to go into deeper levels of stillness it is necessary to keep the body still too. So long as your mind needs some part of it's attention to look after what the body does, it cannot get very focused and still.
That being said, I agree that moving in repetitive ways will promote some mental calm and it might actually be a great in-between step for anyone who has been racing around and multitasking all day and who will likely not be ready yet to sit down and drop it all at once.
I think you need a heavier club
@@MarkWildman you're right about that. It's been ordered. ;)
Love you man... very well done..
Great video, totally agree !! Btw, 10 min of KB daily is enough to be in good shape or I need classical long routine? Thanks !
wow, interesting perspective
To fully understand movement you have to understand stillness
excellent
Hey Mark, loved the video. I love doing yoga and always considered it a moving meditation. Do you know how I could load my practice as you are suggesting to have movement for a timed period under a load?
Steal mace vinyasa as taught by flow Shala
I find seated meditation boring. My moving meditation is yoga, but I also want to try other things.
Kung fu forms
Meditation with clearing your mind is a big NO NO. You’re opening the mind for evil. Rather concentrate, and be focus!
Ashtanga yoga might be closer to what you point out as moving meditation. I find that crossfit is not that different either (if you take away the loud music)
Good points
Balance in everything
Another informative clip
Of course, another trainer from Hollywood.