A Meditation For Public Transport | Reconnecting In Disconnected Spaces

Travelling on public transport can sometimes be an experiences of feeling overwhelmed, contracted and disconnected, yet many of us spend a great deal of time in these environments. How can we cultivate an inner-kindness, a gentless and a sense of re-connection to share this with those we share space with? This is a short meditation to help use the tools we have, to re-connect and foster an openness towards these experiences we share.

Transcript

So we'll begin just by gently arriving into our posture and bringing our mind to meet our body.

So just slowly starting to deepen your breath on your inhales,

Elongating the spine up towards the sky and on your exhales just letting yourself become just a little bit heavier.

The sensation of descending and dissolving,

Allowing any unnecessary tension in the body just to dissolve and to relax.

And let's just take a moment as well to acknowledge the space you're in and the time that you have and maybe share gratitude towards yourself for taking time for yourself in this way,

In a space that is often filled with distraction,

With avoidance and disconnection.

You've chosen to do what could possibly be one of the greatest things that you can do in this space and that is to reconnect with yourself,

To come home,

To remind yourself of how you can connect in with your inner life and how you can be more available to those in the world around you.

So let's just take some time to re-arrive in the body and it can help to sense the curve and shape of a smile.

So just starting with the eyebrows and the eyes and the forehead,

Just see if you can sense the shape of a smile across the forehead and if you haven't already just gently closing down the eyes as well.

Seeing if you can release any furrowing of the eyebrows and creasing between the eyebrows,

Just allowing there to be space across the forehead.

And bringing that same shape of a smile across the eyes,

The outer corners,

Peeking upwards and outwards just slightly.

And then bringing that same shape of a smile down to the mouth,

Just a very gentle,

Humble smile.

What might it be like to smile on the inside of the mouth?

Letting the tongue either rest in the bottom of the mouth or gently tucking the tip up behind the top teeth on the roof of the mouth.

Maybe swallowing once just to lubricate the mouth and loosen the throat.

And then bringing the same smile down to the shoulders,

Broadening the collarbones,

Shoulder blades just a little bit closer together in the back of the body.

Smiling across the front of the chest.

And these spaces sharing with many people,

We can start to close off,

To contract,

To close in,

To protect space.

What does it feel like to open up?

To open up the front of our bodies,

To be ready to receive,

To listen,

To share space?

So just opening up the front of the body.

And just sensing what it might be like to smile across the front of the heart,

The left of the chest.

And not bringing a smile to cover over anything that may be there or anything that may arise,

But simply to make space,

To make space for what is there and what may arrive.

And then just taking a couple of deeper breaths into the nostrils,

Down into the navel and then up from the navel back out the nostrils.

Just feeling what it feels like to be in this state of openness,

Of readiness and receptivity.

And starting to bring your attention to the sway of sounds around you.

You can hear in your immediate environment,

In this vessel you're in,

Whether it's a bus,

A train,

A tram,

A car,

Wherever you are,

Just starting to sense the sounds you can hear and building a sort of soundscape to help you arrive into the place where you are.

And just seeing if instead of naming the sounds or trying to know what the sounds are,

Just allowing them be as they are and imagine that it's the first time you're hearing them.

Curious about the textures,

The tone,

The length,

The pitch,

The volume.

And then tuning into your inner landscapes,

Starting to notice the coming and going of thoughts,

Just connecting with where your mind is at the moment.

And again without needing to attach to the thoughts or change them in any way,

Just noticing as if you're looking from a third person perspective.

With that smiling heart,

With that open and receptive body and mind,

Just noticing what's there.

And if you notice yourself get pulled by a rather strong thought,

You start to get stuck in the storyline,

That's totally natural,

Just notice.

And then return back to observing,

Maybe even using a mental note,

Just saying thinking,

Or thought form,

Thought form.

And see if you can just return to witnessing all that is arising and all that is going.

And amidst the coming and going of sounds and thoughts and emotions,

See if you can find your way to the breath.

Wherever in the body it's easiest for you to connect to it,

It might be the tip of the nostrils,

The upper lip,

The back of the throat,

The chest,

The stomach,

Or the whole body breathing.

Just finding one way to connect to your breath.

And we're just going to let our practice be very simple,

Just simply noticing when you leave your breath and enter thought when you can.

And in those moments,

Just very kindly and gently bring yourself back to the breath.

So noticing the inhales,

The exhales,

And the spaces between.

Just letting this be a practice of remembering our way back to the breath and remembering the ways in which we can return to ourselves.

And after just a couple of moments,

You may have noticed the mind has become hitched on a thought.

Something to do with the past,

Remembering the future,

Or the present moment comparing.

If you notice that the mind has been hitched onto a narrative or a story or a thought or a story,

Just simply noticing and again without judgement,

Re-relaxing into the body and inviting your attention back to the breath wherever you are connected with the breath.

Just strengthening our capacity to remember and to return.

So every single time we notice that we have drifted,

It's just an opportunity to strengthen our ability to come back.

And for these last few moments of our time together,

I'm just going to offer the practice of loving kindness to re-enter your day with a sense of benevolence and compassion towards yourself and also those around you.

So wherever you are,

Just becoming aware if you can of the space around your heart,

The left of your chest,

And just breathing there,

And then just to yourself offering these words,

May I be safe,

Secure and confident in myself.

May I be gentle,

Loving and kind toward myself.

And may my heart and mind be free and at ease.

So we're just going to repeat these phrases to ourselves just one more time and just sensing what these words mean to you and feel like in your body as you say them to yourself.

May I be safe,

Secure and confident in myself.

May I be gentle,

Loving and kind toward myself.

May my heart and mind be free and at ease.

Just feeling and sensing where those words land in your body.

Taking a couple of deep breaths there.

And in a moment,

And for just a moment,

I'm going to invite you to gently open your eyes for just two seconds to notice whoever is in your direct sight or in your peripherals.

And then just closing down your eyes again.

Start to slowly opening your eyes wherever you are.

Just taking a moment to observe who is visible.

And then gently closing your eyes again,

Coming back to yourself.

Taking a couple of deep breaths.

Just taking a moment to consider the complexity of these people's lives and you're sharing this space with the layers beyond this 3D version of them,

Which we see.

Their families,

Where they may be heading to right now,

The challenges they may face,

The gifts that they bring and the visions that they hold.

Just choosing to see the goodness in them.

And this time,

Not offer these words of kindness to these people who are sharing this ride with.

Just to yourself towards them with the image of them still in your mind.

May you be safe,

Secure and confident in yourself.

May you be gentle,

Loving and kind toward yourself.

May your heart and mind be free and at ease.

Just feeling and sensing what happens inside you as you share these words.

Who do you become when you offer words of kindness and see the goodness in others?

Taking a couple of slow breaths to bring life back to the body.

Just allow these feelings to find their place within you.

As Mayor Angelos said,

When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully,

Everyone is blessed.

May you take this openness,

This receptivity with you throughout your day and choose to see the goodness and offer kindness towards yourself and those around you.

Reviews

This was really lovely. In the last five minutes of the track, a large group of boisterous children and their school appointed minders entered the bus. Then the instruction to open my eyes for a short moment and see who was in my line of sight. I smiled and felt hope and joy and compassion and more of a celebration of the noise, rather than any annoyance or distress. This made me remember and recommit to my values of patience, loving kindness, and compassion. Thank you so much, I am saving this track to use again. 💜🙏💜

Thank you 💕 🙏

Lovely.

Grateful for this! Gave me a powerful feeling of peace and calm joy on what I usually experience as a stressful subway ride

Excellent. Will use it everytime I'll use public transport

🕊️Thank you🕊️very helpful and lovely🙏

Thanks for the perspective this Monday morning. I was anxious this norning and I now feel calm enough to start the week with awareness and helpful intention 🙏🏻

Such a lovely and helpful meditation. I felt much calmer and more centred afterwards. 💠

A perfect simple meditation for my commute today. I feel more connected and grateful. An achievement for a Friday morning bus ride into the city.

I tried this on a Metro train in the DMV area and my spirit easily resonated with it. Very calming, centering and my heart is more opened for the day. Thank you for this 🙏🏾 highly recommend for ANY commute!

🙏🏻

Wonderful. Thank you
Bless

This was beautiful and I enjoyed it ☺️

I choose to see goodness and offer kindness towards myself and people around me... Thank you 🙏

Choosing to be kind and gentle with myself, what a great thought 🤗 thank you, going to bring this one with me today and come back to it , to bring more peace into my life🙏💕

Really, really nice.

Powerful message....Namaste 🙏