Meditation doesn’t always need to take place in a room free of distractions. In fact, meditating on the go, or what Maria Gonzalez, mindful leadership coach and author of The 9 ways to become aware of yourself, to transform yourself and to inspire otherscalls “mindfulness in action,” may be a more effective way to combat the commute that many of us hate.
Almost 50% of people living in the country’s largest cities say they hate traveling, and about 40% of workers in a survey said they would rather clean toilets than go to their pre-pandemic office. If your commute is around 30 minutes (the average commute in the US in 2019 was 27.6 mins), you spend about 10 days a year commuting to the office, so why not less horrible?
Gonzalez, who has been teaching mindfulness since 2002, sees meditation as a way to calm the mind even during times of transportation. Beyond training the mind to be present when distractions are near, meditating while commuting can help improve focus for the day, and you don’t have to close your eyes to participate.
“We’re geared towards multitasking, and there’s no way to be a proficient multitasker. There’s just no way,” she says, explaining that working on this practice while on a commute is one way. perfect for improving our attention later. Experts tout meditation as a way to improve focus, reduce stress, and boost mood. So I thought I’d try mindfulness in action. on the way to work.
My journey begins with a five-minute walk to the metro, followed by a 20-minute walk to my stop, then I walk another 12 minutes. As you can imagine, subway rides in New York are never the same every day, and a myriad of factors can increase irritability, whether it’s a delayed train, a car overcrowded or a thunderstorm that hits just as I exit the station. (which happened three times this week).
Set an intention and observe your surroundings
Wherever you are going or coming from, Gonzalez says to go there with the intention of working on mind training. Notice your feet on the pedals or the steering wheel, if you’re driving, or in my case, your feet on the subway car floor. If you can sit down, feel your back against the chair. Think about the sounds, smells and sights you see. Just let your brain take note of these observations and pass through your consciousness.
For drivers, Gonzalez says mindfulness is the safest way to drive, being the most aware of your surroundings.
On the subway this week, I kept my eyes peeled in front of me, noticing the bright yellow raincoat of a young woman sitting across from me and the printed lunch box of a toddler puppy hanging to my left at side of his parent. Most people seemed preoccupied with their Airpods, which made me wonder what everyone was listening to: was it a daily news podcast or a bloated playlist?
Going into this practice without judgment can help produce calming thoughts, Gonzales says. If the train car is crowded or someone’s earphones sound right next to you, think of a mantra, even something like, “It’s just the sight and sound, I’m not judging it”, González said. I’ve noticed that it’s also helpful to look at your surroundings with the best of intentions, knowing that everyone in your path has a complex history that led them to cross paths with you that day. Feeling empathy for others around you and gratitude for even being able to take the train (instead of the hour and a half walk Gonzalez understood my commute would be without him) puts things in a new perspective.
I’ve noticed how I’m usually preoccupied with my own thoughts about the day’s work, catching up on texts to my family or mindlessly scrolling through my phone to be genuinely curious about the sounds around me.
“You have a very wide view, and that’s what happens when you’re present. Your view becomes quite wide,” Gonzalez explains.
Put down your phone and breathe
For my roughly 35-minute ride, notifications can wait, Gonzalez says. Do your best to keep your phone in your bag during the ride and focus on your breathing. We subconsciously reach for our phones even when there’s no urgent email to respond to, Gonzales says, and once we get used to it, we lose focus.
“If you watch it once, you’ll watch it twice,” she says, and if you’re driving to work, the phone should never be taken out. Gonzalez never even turns on the radio or a podcast while driving and uses the commute to focus on her breathing and what’s in front of her.
With my phone tucked away in my bag, I decided to plant my feet and focus on my breathing. I generally stick to the 4-7-8 technique, where I inhale for four seconds, hold it for seven, and exhale for eight. I noticed that my heart rate, which was higher than normal coming out of a workout, getting ready quickly, and taking the subway, finally slowed down.
Don’t be hard on yourself if your mind wanders
One of the most important things to keep in mind is not to give up just because your mind is preoccupied. It is counterproductive to count how many times you come out of it, which leads to you feeling frustrated with the practice. In previous meditations I have tried, it has been helpful to think of wandering thoughts as a passing train: let the thoughts come and let them pass unwittingly.
“You practice constantly coming back to that awareness, and that’s a very sweet thing,” Gonzalez says. “If we encourage each other, we are more likely to succeed.”
Once you are able to try this as a form of mindfulness, introducing soothing music, even a joy-inducing podcast, can work alongside observing and breathing practices depending on the preferences. Gonzalez, who works with a host of leaders on developing practices to boost focus and productivity, believes simple ways to train our minds before a busy day are imperative for our brain and body health. If you work from home, consider trying mindfulness on the go when you go out for a walk or on the way to an errand.
Ironically, doing less and thinking more closely during an allotted time can help adjust the brain to focus on what really matters during the day. I found it helpful to try to breathe, notice, and feel gratitude for where I was rather than starting the cycle of worry that usually defines my mornings, triggered by what’s next. screen. I’m used to engaging in countless things at once because that’s what feels normal, so it’s not intuitive – and even a little uncomfortable – to do what doesn’t. looks like nothing. It’s never going to work perfectly, and I’m sure some days will be easier than others, but it’s the trying that counts, says Gonzalez.
“We can’t be anywhere else. We are here, right now,” she said. “If we are present and aware, life is exciting…it spills over into other things because you carry that attitude with you wherever you go.”