Head to the scenic Fitzroy Gardens, nestled in Melbourne’s busy cityscape. Take a stroll around the park and you'll notice some heritage highlights, including Captain Cook’s 1755 family home uprooted from Yorkshire and re-assembled here in the 1930s, a conservatory, and a collection of fountains, statues and memorials. The park is blissfully underused, especially on the weekends. You can always find a secluded spot from which to admire the avenues of mature elms and rare specimen trees from the 19th century.
Worried, anxious, stressed – are these words that describe you right now? Because, same. Times of uncertainty can be especially challenging for our tiny little brains. But when things are out of our control, it’s important to find ways to manage these emotions or you’ll find them derailing your day pretty quickly.
“When you find that calmer state, you’re not getting caught up in everything. You just see it for what it is, and you can step away from it,” says Luke Mcleod, a mindfulness coach and founder of Soul Alive. He encourages people to use the practice of meditation to manage their busy lives – and now, to help deal with the mental health impacts of a global pandemic. “Meditation isn’t going to give you all the answers, but it helps you approach whatever problems you have with a clearer state of mind," he says.
Mcleod initially sought out meditation to help him be more productive in his high-performance job – but five years later, when his personal life fell apart, it helped him stay afloat. “People still associate mindfulness with religion or see it as something that they're a little bit intimidated by, but it’s something that anyone can do, anywhere, that can really help them.”
A clearer state of mind is something we could all use right now, so we asked Mcleod to break down some common misconceptions about meditation – to and explain how you can start using it to better cope with, you know, everything.
TO: What is meditation, and how is it different from mindfulness?
LM: Meditation leads to more mindfulness. Meditation is the exercise, and mindfulness is the state that results from meditation.
Who is meditation for?
Meditation is for anyone. If you work in a high-pressure position, it can be used to increase your performance – whether that's for more focus, more energy or achieving a clearer mindset. For people looking to use it to manage stress or anxiety more generally, it’s a way to achieve a ‘neutral gear’. So, not as a solution, but more as a preventative to that stressful state.
How can people be more mindful if they’re busy or time-poor?
You don't have to go sit in the mountains for an hour and try to meditate, you can find small moments here and there during your day. Taking five or ten minutes throughout your busy day can be just as impactful as spending an hour somewhere totally serene. Whether you’re in an office cubicle or at home, you can do short breathing exercises, or just take a couple of minutes to really open up all your senses and engage with the environment you’re in.
What’s a simple meditation exercise people can do at home?
Right now, wherever you're at, find something you can really tune into. Search for things you can see, hear or feel and notice them in a curious, detailed way – no matter how mundane or ordinary they are.
It could be a bird chirping, the feeling of air-conditioning or the sun on your skin; if there’s a tree outside your window, notice how the wind is moving the leaves and all the different shades of green you can see; It could be a tingling sensation you feel somewhere in your body. This simple exercise helps reset the nervous system and brings you back into the moment.
Luke Mcleod’s company Soul Alive offers online Meditation classes, with free podcasts and articles to help you further – or start – your practice. You can find him on Instagram at @luke.mcleod.
Free meditation apps and podcasts to help you practise mindfulness:
The Rubin Museum: Mindfulness Meditation podcast
Spotify’s Daily Wellness playlist: If you have a Spotify account, type “Daily Wellness” into the search bar for a tailored playlist of podcasts and music to help you chill out.
