Radha Agrawal describes how farm life shifted her meditation practice from sitting still to walking slowly under trees, breathing deeply. Forest bathing releases antioxidants that may fight cancer and spark creativity better than seated meditation, she says.
You're listening to the Human Upgrade with Dave Asprey. Has it changed your meditation practice? You know, I, I think actually the actual, the experience of owning a farm and, and you know, picking up the feed every morning and going to feed them or, or taking, you know, long walks in the park or in, in the, in the, in the woods, you know, that's, that's changed my meditation practice from a sort of a seated one into a walking meditation and actually a joy practice that we, I lead, I have seven joy practices on a platform, but I talk, I lead people through forest bathing and it's called Shinrin Yoku and it's Japanese forest bathing. It's meditation through slow meandering walking in, in under a canopy of trees in the woods. And that can be an even more potent form of meditation than just sitting in quiet. So if you just slowly, hands behind your back, find nature and walk without a destination, you're not hiking, you're just slowly walking and just taking deep inhales and exhales in your, the trees, you know, give off fight insides which are these like cancer fighting sort of antioxidants. And it really literally helps your, your body fight cancer. So the trees, as you're taking these meditative walks, deep breathing in the woods, slowly again, hands behind your back, aimlessly, you're also giving your body more than you would sitting in an air conditioned room in your house. If you can find nature to really go and do that joy practice of meditation while walking. Dacher from Greater Good calls it, calls it an awe walk where you walk around in awe and find awe in nature around you. And that can be an even more potent form of meditation than seated meditation. So yeah, my meditation has changed from a more sedentary seated one to a slow moving one, which by the way, as we've learned and as we are continuing to learn your brain body connection, your body in motion is where the healing happens. Your body in movement is where the creativity comes. And so and the big aha moments, you know when you're in the shower when there's moving water, right. It's like it's that there's something moving in the space. That energy is actually what inspires these aha moments. Or for me, all my best ideas on biggest inventions, all of my biggest campaign ideas for big marketing campaigns for whatever I've been doing, all came in motion, not in stillness. And so I think meditation is great for some people in a seated form. And I think that in a slow movement form can be just as if not more potent.
