[blackSnake]

I am a Karate practitioner of an Okinawan traditional system and our main focus of study is kata, or form work. Once you have learned and become very familiar with the form where you don't have to think about the biomechanics, it can be a moving meditation with the same benefits.

In the monasteries and temples of China and India, where Karate can be traced back to, martial arts were practiced not only for self-defense but for therapeutic benefits as well.

If you have trouble sitting still, sometimes a moving meditation can help. This does not mean you have to go out and study a martial art for 4302842 years. It can be a simple exercise.

Think of a nice 30 minute walk that you enjoy taking and go out and walk. Try to be present and observe your own footsteps. Try to feel the weight shifting from one foot to the other. Notice if the sun is out. Can you feel it on your skin? Does it pick up your energy? Or does it make you tired? What kind of relationship do you have with the sun? Don't just think about it intellectually. Feel it out. Its happening right now (if you're on the walk). Bring yourself back to the shifting of your weight between your two legs.

Meditation is about being present. Its about tuning into yourself, without the filters of your mind. You don't need anything.

Another simple meditation exercise, which also helps to massage the organs with the breath: -Lay flat on your back -Place one hand on your belly and one hand on your chest -Can you make the hand on your belly rise up as you inhale, without making the hand on your chest move up. In other words, you're breathing into your belly and not your chest. This is a more natural, deeper breath. Repeat for ten minutes, or however long. Even after 10 breaths, you might notice a difference.