No one loves traffic.
A helping of the simmering soup of road rage can leave us stressed and reactive.
Not an ideal start to a day.
What if there was a way to use the normally stressful experience of the commute to develop the skills that help reduce stress?
What if there was also a way to do it that made you a better and safer driver?
How does Mindfulness help?
When we talk about Mindfulness Meditation we are talking about trainable attention skills.
The first of these is Concentration.
The ability to really focus is the foundation for doing anything well. Whether that’s driving, learning something new or playing an instrument, any skill will be influenced by the quality of the focus you bring to that activity. So training your ability to concentrate is a skill with a potentially enormous impact across your whole life. It’s also something that we don’t necessarily think of as ‘trainable’. It’s more often treated as something we should be just able ‘to do’.
If you’re scratching your head wondering how you could possibly Meditate in a car you might be influenced by the popular idea that Meditation is all about ‘being chill’. If that’s you then the idea of Meditation while driving might seem alarming. Like you’d be bringing too relaxed an approach to an activity that requires focus and alertness. The attention skills of Mindfulness Meditation brings together relaxation AND alertness/attention. An optimum state for clear thinking and non-reactive action and decision making.
Contrast this to the vague or distracted state you might have experienced doing your daily commute. Ever got to the other end and thought ‘I don’t remember half that trip!’ You were so lost in thought the drive just passed you by somehow.
Also you might never have thought of Meditation as an ‘in everyday life’ kinda thing. You might picture it as something that’s done in a quiet room, in silence, while alone. Once you understand the skills involved then Meditation can become portable and adaptable.
Taking Mindfulness practice into your day means that you are also increasing the amount you practise it. Being able to Meditate while driving means that if you already have the habit of doing a daily 10 minute formal meditation you are now able to add 2X20 minute commutes (for example). You’ve gone from 10 minutes to 50 minutes of mindfulness! Increasing your practice time by 500% propels your progress forward building an increased possibility of the rewards of practice too.
Learning the Technique
It is vital that we choose a focus range for your meditation that isn’t a distraction from driving. That’s why this technique is focused on what you See, Hear and Feel in the outside world. Knowing how to navigate a broad range of experiences like this in a single practice is an important part of learning the Technique.
The practice you do on the commute helps set the tone for your day. Instead of walking into the office after a stressed out, reactive journey you are walking in a calm, alert, more mindful you.
Sound good?
Drive by our Learning Centre.
Our Driving Meditation Short Course gives you the Step by Step Instruction you need to safely make Meditation part of your daily commute.