If focusing on your breath feels frustrating, you do not have to give up meditation; you can simply enter through another door. In an interview with Harvard Divinity School in the United States on 4 November, Professor Monica Sanford said that everyday activities such as folding laundry, pulling weeds in the garden, going for a walk and washing the dishes can become meditation when you give them your full attention. India’s Hindustan Times also featured the interview on the 6th, presenting it as a way to meditate in everyday life.
The interview was arranged ahead of Self-Care Week in the UK (16–22 November) and World Meditation Day on 21 December, with the aim of highlighting the moment as a good time to begin practising mindfulness.
The meditation tool chosen by a Harvard professor: a laundry basket
Sanford is a lecturer in ministry studies at Harvard Divinity School and assistant dean for multireligious ministry. She is ordained as a Buddhist lay minister in the Chan tradition of Chinese Zen and has trained as a Buddhist chaplain. She is also the author of 『Kalyāṇamitra: A Buddhist Model for Spiritual Care』, a textbook for Buddhist chaplains.
The method she recommends is simple. Choose an activity you already enjoy, such as folding laundry or pulling weeds in the garden, build it into your daily routine, and give it your full attention while you do it. An activity you used to rush through can become “a gift to yourself” if you slow down and focus on just one thing.
If breath meditation feels frustrating, you can try another way in
Sanford said that breath meditation is not right for everyone. If focusing on your breath does not suit you, you can try loving-kindness meditation, walking meditation or meditation while washing the dishes; all these methods can be adapted to suit you. Loving-kindness meditation involves silently repeating phrases that express goodwill towards yourself and others.
This is also where people new to meditation often get stuck. They close their eyes and count their breaths, but when thoughts keep intruding, they conclude that meditation is not for them. Walking, which involves movement; housework, which engages the hands; and loving-kindness meditation, which involves repeating warm phrases, each offer a different way in. Finding the one that suits you can be the first step in meditation.
Stress is felt in the body before the mind
That does not mean you should abandon breath meditation. Sanford said that when intense stress triggers the body’s tension response, breath meditation focuses on helping the body return to a state of rest. It reminds us that stress must first be met in the body, before it can be resolved through thought.
She does not see mindfulness as a technique that is an end in itself. It is about noticing where you are, what you are doing and why; it is practice in placing your attention where you want it to be. The Hindustan Times reported that she sees mindfulness as more than a passing trend for relieving stress.
Start meditating tonight with a single item of laundry
You do not need elaborate preparations to try Sanford’s suggestion at home. Start by leaving your phone in another room.
As you fold laundry, pay attention to the texture and warmth of the fabric, the sound it makes as you fold it, and the weight of the pile of folded clothes. When tending pots on a balcony or a garden plot, notice the feel of the soil and the effort in your fingertips as you pull up a weed. On a walk, follow the sensation of your feet touching the ground and lifting away. If your mind wanders to other thoughts, do not blame yourself; simply return your attention to the sensations in your hands and feet.
You could also add a brief loving-kindness meditation at the end of the day. Slowly repeat short phrases such as “May I be at ease” and “May the people I met today be at ease”. In an age when information and notifications never stop, meditation need not be a task that requires setting aside separate time; it can begin by giving your full attention to something you are already doing.
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