Meditation on-the-go is one of my favourite practices. I believe I’m quite a practical person who uses time in a smart way, leaving time for myself on a daily basis. And no, I don’t feel guilty about it, quite the contrary … Took me some work to get here, but boy, oh boy, what a delight it is now!

Yes, I also enjoy going with the flow, sometimes forgetting to stop… Anyways, going back to practicality, I have an active life and I enjoy meditating. I find meditation on-the go amazingly beneficial and easy to do. That’s a good thing given that I travel quite a bit.

Why Is Meditation On-The-Go So Fulfilling

What I like best about meditation on-the-go, is the fact that it actually makes a world of difference in enhancing my regular practice. The way I see it, when at home or in a controlled environment, like a studio, you deal with little external disturbances. So focusing on breath, slowing down, emptying the mind, reciting the mantra, quietly or otherwise, is easier to do or at least it seems to be.

However, when out in the open, with the world whirling around you, there are a few more things that compete at grabbing the attention of your mind.

Hence why I find it so much more challenging to meditate, but equally more beneficial to enhance both my technique and its benefits.

Just so that there’s no confusion, when I say I meditate, I’m talking about calming the mind, whilst the body is on the move. That in itself makes for an interesting exercise. I’m encouraging you to give it a go; functioning at two different speeds at the same time: slow pace the mind whilst fast pacing the body.

How Can You Meditate While On-The-Go

The way I go about meditation on-the-go relates to what bothers me most when I travel. Can be anything from the rush others are in, the noise, the ever present unexpected, the feeling of discomfort/anxiety that there’s no way of knowing and/or controlling events and the list can go on.

In my mindfulness practice, my aim is to enhance the feeling of calm by becoming as non-judgemental as possible. If you read my other posts, you probably know by now, that even my work as a leadership coach revolves around uncovering and removing judgement and its very negative hooks.

So, back to meditation-on-the-go … I have two ways of going about it: either I notice being triggered by something or someone, or I choose to work on something technical, if you’d like, in relation to meditation.

Things That Can Be Worked On Whilst On-The-Go

1. Focus the mind

When out and about, it is easy to lock down in a world of our own and move around as if in a trance. As part of my mindfulness practice, I decided to be more present in whatever is it that I’m doing, including when walking on the street or travelling on whatever mean of transport. Focusing the mind to stay present, to notice things, places, people, is very helpful in learning new things about myself, including removing unconscious biases.

2. Noise cancelling

Actually, it’s not really noise cancelling, but rather accepting and including the surrounding noise as part of the meditation practice. We are constantly surrounded by the noise of the street, so acknowledging and accepting it, lessens its negative effects on our brain.

Furthermore, focusing on the noises that stand out and grab my attention, help me identify what is it that I might want to look into deeper. I find it very useful and interesting to notice how same noises bother me differently at various times.

3. Dealing with external disturbances

Have you paid attention to how many obstacles you encounter when out and about? From people walking into you, to uneven ground, to crossings to bikes chained on the pavement, to dogs suddenly stopping to sniff something, to children suddenly changing direction, to things being thrown at you by the wind or umbrellas walking into you. And the list can go on and on and on.

The key is in the reaction to these things happening. Part of my meditation practice is to embrace them with calm and a smile, to pay attention to what feelings they trigger in me and identify why that is.

Longer term benefit is the ability to stay calm when exposed to bigger, more important things in life and prevent myself from retreating into a victim mentality. Nobody’s out to get me.

Regardless of your mean of transport, as a passenger, and this I cannot stress hard and often enough, only when a passenger, take the time, as little or as much as you can, and choose what would you like to work on in order to develop a calmer sense of being. This would be your meditation on the-go-practice.

SparkYourBloom Today and Everyday!