Good afternoon, Nicole.
To be honest with you, I have rarely ever sat down to engage in classical meditation: where you sit with particular posture, eyes closed and simply breathe, letting your thoughts flow, or perhaps simply allow your mind to explore a single train of thought. I know this has many useful functions, and is therefore fairly commonly used, but to me, it is a moment where we step outside of the world in order to reflect on it - thus, it is a technique to be used when times are calm, peaceful and slow, rather than rushed, busy and requiring more active engagement. With that being so, it struck me primarily as a training method rather than a practice to be used regularly: a means by which to return yourself to a state of emotional calm, to learn to focus your thoughts in a given moment, and to be able to explore your mind peacefully.
Sadly, our world doesn't allow us much external peace: we're all busy people living very busy lives, and often have several things scheduled for the same twenty minutes. That opportunity for peaceful respite comes few and far between, so we must learn to carry that peacefulness within ourselves, something that comes with us even at the busiest and most hectic of times. I also would ask you: what do you see as the nature of a meditation? I remember reading the wonderful Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh: the gist of part of the book was that mindful action is meditative, and thus, everything we do can be a meditation. When we place our thoughts solely on what we are doing (or being 'in the moment', as we often call it), concentrating entirely on the task at hand, we are meditating, because we are mindful of that single moment in time. As he put it: when you are washing the dishes, do so to wash the dishes. Don't wash the dishes because you're going to watch Television afterwards, or because you have somewhere you need to be. If you do that, you're not present in the moment: your mind is looking ahead, and you are letting that moment pass you by.
Thus, we come to the idea of the active meditation: placing your mind within the moment, so as you perform an action, your mind is solely upon perfection of that task, your thoughts fully aligned with your actions rather than distracted elsewhere. In so doing, you cleanse your mind of abstraction or unnecessary thought, and go some way to restoring your own energies. Have you ever noticed that most people think of doing chores, like cleaning the house, as an imposition, something they wouldn't mind avoiding? Yet, once they've done it, they feel oddly better for it? It is within these moments of active mindfulness that we thus find a little inner balance, peace created by focusing on what we are doing at that moment, whether simplistic or complicated. Within that moment, everything else falls away, and it's just ourselves and the task at hand.
That's how I meditate: every action serves a purpose, and must be attended to with great care and focus in that moment. Don't get me wrong, I still multitask, split my thoughts between different things, but that is something the world often demands of us. But when I need to centre myself, gather my thoughts and rejuvenate myself physically and psychologically, I focus purely on that one moment. So that's my advice to you: wash the dishes. Go for a run. Read a book. Write an assignment, or in your diary. Close your eyes and listen to a piece of music. Simply be within that moment. It might surprise you.
Best wishes to you, Nicole. Have a pleasant day.
Regards,
Aslyn
Topic Author
I just figured there'd be other ideas there for ya. Maybe an admin can combine these and sticky them? 
