This will be a guided practice using a variation of the see-hear-feel technique as taught by Shinzen Young.
We'll limit our focus range to external sights,
Sounds,
And touch,
And will not be focusing on any internal experiences like mental talk,
Mental imagery,
Or emotions.
This practice is designed to do while driving,
So we'll call it see-hear-feel-drive.
Please make sure you're safe and can start this recording safely and pause it if you need to.
So,
As you begin to drive,
Notice the feel of your hand on the steering wheel,
The pressure of your foot on the pedals.
Notice things you can see around you,
Your environment,
Other vehicles,
The sky.
Keep your attention externally focused on things you can see,
Hear,
And feel outside of you.
Ignore or leave in the background any thoughts or emotions.
As you notice different things in your environment as you drive,
You can label them as see,
Hear,
See,
Hear,
Or feel.
Notice the road,
See.
Notice the lines on the road,
See.
Notice road signs,
See.
Notice the sound of the vehicle,
Hear.
You may notice the feeling of the seat on your back,
Feel.
Normally in see-hear-feel,
We would soak our attention into each sense experience that we notice for a few moments.
You'll not have much chance to do that when driving.
So you'll simply acknowledge each sensation,
Each thing that you notice,
For a brief moment,
Then move on to the next.
You'll use calm,
Neutral labels.
You can say them in your head or speak them out loud.
See,
See,
Feel,
Hear,
See.
By doing this,
You are more aware of what's going on around you.
You'll be more safe because your full attention is on driving and what you can see,
Hear,
And feel.
You may notice sounds like other vehicles,
Your turn signal.
If it's raining,
You might notice the sound of your windshield wipers.
If you stop at a traffic light,
You can keep your attention on the light waiting for it to change.
See,
See,
See.
When you start to move again,
Notice the sensations in your body that result from the acceleration,
Deceleration of the car,
Feel.
If any thoughts come up,
Just let them be in the background,
Just as if they were noise from outside.
No need to be drawn into them.
Just keep bringing your focus back outside of you to the road,
To the vehicles,
To your own vehicle.
If you normally listen to music or the radio,
When you do this without any of that,
You may start to notice a lot of sounds that you don't normally notice.
Sounds of your own car,
Sounds of the other cars.
Distracted driving is incredibly dangerous and on the rise.
When you do see,
Hear,
Feel,
Drive,
You're bringing your full concentration to driving,
And so you're much safer.
Mindful awareness also involves sensory clarity,
Which means you're more attuned to noticing the details of what's going on in this moment,
Which is also very helpful for driving.
You're more likely to notice that car starting to creep into your lane,
For example.
You're less likely to be still sitting at a traffic light after it's turned green,
Having someone beep at you.
Notice the sensations of your body as it contacts the car or vehicle,
The hands on the wheel.
You may feel vibrations of the road coming through the wheel.
You may feel your bottom on the seat being supported and feeling all the vibrations and bumps that come through,
Allowing you to feel the road through the car.
You train the skill of equanimity when you allow the different sense experiences that you're aware of to come and go without push or pull.
If someone cuts you off,
You may feel an emotional reaction.
You can just allow that to be there in the background.
Just do what you need to do to stay safe on the road.
No need to get caught up in reactions.
If there's traffic,
Then there's traffic.
You're here,
You're right now.
Just stay in touch with the moment,
What you can see,
Hear,
And feel.
If there's impatience,
If there's anger,
Just allow it to be in the background.
Don't focus on it.
You don't have to get rid of it.
Just ground your attention in what's going on outside of you.
Again,
Feel your foot on the pedal.
Hear the sounds of the road.
See the sights.
Notice the different colors of the other vehicles,
Various shapes,
Sizes.
Briefly notice the sights reflecting in your mirrors to help keep you aware of what's going on behind you as you focus on the road in front of you.
You might notice changing colors and textures of the road itself.
Potholes,
Squiggles of asphalt that have been used to fill in cracks,
The different color lines,
White,
Yellow,
Different signs you see along the road and their colors.
You might notice buildings around you,
Natural environments,
Trees,
Grass,
Flowers.
Noticing them going by,
Appreciating these.
You might see them every day,
But normally you might not even notice them.
Just bring momentary attention to them as you pass them by.
It might even just be in your peripheral vision.
One thing we can notice as we drive is how much we're able to see,
How quickly we can see things.
The changing road,
Vehicles around us.
We can see out of our peripheral vision to make sure we're safe on either side.
We can see our mirror showing us behind us,
The ever-changing viewscape constantly flowing,
Changing from one moment to the next.
We can flow with those changing sights.
We're bringing some peace and equanimity to our drive,
Just appreciating the see,
Hear,
And feel of this moment,
This journey.
Not concerning ourselves too much about the destination.
We'll get there when we get there.
You can pause this audio and continue noting see,
Hear,
Feel as you drive.
Press play again once you finish driving and have arrived at your destination.
When you arrive and you place your vehicle in the park,
Just take a moment to settle.
Now that you're safely parked,
You might close your eyes for a moment and just rest.
Notice your breath.
Notice the feeling of arrival.
And just taking a moment before you transition to exiting your vehicle and going on with your day,
Just to appreciate that you made it,
That you have arrived.
And then taking a moment to appreciate that you've been able to bring your full attention to the process.
And hopefully you've been able to bring some enjoyment to it.
And certainly being much safer than if you were distracted.
And see if you've generated some momentum of mindfulness that you can carry with you as you exit your vehicle and do whatever you are about to do.
Thanks so much for listening and practicing with me.
