Pulling weeds. Often clients will ask me about meditating and they will say how they don't have time etc. Then I ask if they have a hobby or something that they do where they can just let their minds drift? For many this could be working on their cars, cooking, sewing, and for me it's pulling weeds or working with rocks. When we are engaged in something familiar this gives our minds an opportunity to relax and not be so focused on thinking. This allows the subconscious to release ideas and process things you may have been trying to figure out. When I'm out pulling weeds (which I have a lot of), I can do that for hours and afterwards I feel like I've relaxed my mind. This is a form of non-directive meditation which you can read more about here. So the next time someone asks you if you meditate you can probably say you do - even though you didn't know that before.
From Frontiers in Human Neuroscience: researchers from Norway and Australia found that, in addition to less stress, more peace, greater self-awareness, and better concentration, participants whose brains were watched under MRI scans while they were practicing non-concentrative or non-directive meditation (one that is practiced in many modern teachings, and allows the mind to wander as it pleases without suppression of thought), actually causes parts of the brain associated with feeling and emotion processing to light up more frequently. Read More...