How I Redefined Meditation To Be An Attainable Daily Practice

Years ago, before I had ever built a business, crossed an ocean, started up an Instagram account, or even considered the idea of a "personal brand," I would ride my bike for hours along Lake Michigan in downtown Chicago. I did this practically every day.

I had just moved to the city to become an actress and was waitressing at night, providing me what felt like endless time each day to, well, be with myself. I didn't realize at the time just how precious that was. Looking back, I now see, my bike rides were my meditations. I felt so connected to my body, my mind, and most of all, my heart during those rides.

As I have gotten older, my time has become more limited, while the emphasis on the importance of meditation has only increased. I often feel legit pressure to sit cross-legged, close my eyes, breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth and, you know, clear my head.

The times when I feel the most connected to my body—which leads me to connect to my breath, which leads me to become deeply present, and therefore, in my heart, and ultimately, in my joy—is when I simply do what makes me feel good. This is my form of meditation. 

Sometimes it's still a bike ride. Other times, it's a deep, juicy yoga class. Often, it's me sitting on a meditation pillow mentally chanting a mantra. Every now and then, it's a powerful breathwork meditation.

Most of the time, my meditation is an everyday act like cooking my husband a delicious dinner. Or losing myself in a novel. It's also losing myself in the warm fur of my dogs as I snuggle with them for hours. Every once in a while, it's losing myself on the dance floor, at a sweaty nightclub filled with house music, alongside my girlfriends.

I have found that the more I try to label meditation as right or wrong, the more confining it is. Break the rules! Breathe in silence or scream at the top of your lungs. Stay still for an hour or gyrate until 3 a.m. It doesn't matter.