Welcome to Kulkama Collectors' Commute Practice.
Commuting is one of those times in our day where we are most inclined to be mind-wandering.
In fact,
A Harvard report on mind-wandering puts the average mind-wandering state in commuting at around 80 per cent.
But really,
When we commute,
We're moving between spaces in our lives.
And this is sometimes known as the third space.
So rather than zoning out or ruminating over the day or feeling worried or planning for the day ahead or what's to come,
We can often use this time as a real reset.
Coming to the present moment and just tuning in to exactly how we're feeling.
So with this commute practice,
You might be driving,
You might be on a train,
You might be walking.
It doesn't matter what you're doing.
The practice is simply about tuning in to our experience.
So just beginning now.
Noticing if we're commuting from home to work or from work to home,
What are we carrying from that space into the next space?
Are we thinking about what we've just left or are we planning about where we're going?
And then if it's possible,
Just beginning to bring your attention to what's going on right now.
One of the best ways we might do that is to start taking in the sights of what we're actually seeing.
Perhaps becoming really aware of the colours around us.
Maybe it's noticing the sky or nature.
Or maybe it's just noticing all of the different faces that we're seeing.
We also might begin to really tune in to all the different sounds.
Not trying to seek out sounds or make sense of sounds or label sounds,
But simply being the hearing.
Just allowing the sounds to come.
And then just trying to be aware of the sounds just allowing the sounds to come and allowing the sounds to go.
You might notice that you judge particular sounds or sights that you're seeing.
And remember that judgement isn't bad.
In fact,
It's so part of our human reaction and experience that it's completely welcome.
But what we want to do is observe the judgements.
Just be curious to the judgements.
If there's a particular noise perhaps that we're finding irritating,
Can we bring a sense of curiosity and openness to it?
Really exploring what that particular sound is and perhaps what the reactions in the body are as a result.
You might also notice the space or the silence between sounds.
And then from there just starting to draw the attention from outside of yourself yourself inside.
So beginning to pay attention to how the body's feeling right in this moment.
You might just notice any areas of tension or tightness or maybe areas of ease.
Sometimes if we're really focused on the areas of tension we can get quite caught up in them.
It might be nice to explore,
And what else am I feeling in my body?
How does it feel as I'm walking to feel my feet flat on the earth?
How do my palms feel in this moment?
Are they relaxed or at ease?
And then just tuning into the anchor of the breath,
Knowing that we have this incredible anchor to the present moment,
The breath,
And we literally have around 21,
000 of them every day.
So that's 21,
000 opportunities to be coming back to this present moment.
So just using the anchor of the breath now,
Just feeling the air moving in through the nose down into the belly and feeling the movement out.
Just allowing the attention to just flow with the movement of the breath.
The constant air and flow of the breath.
And what you will notice is that all of the other things are still going on.
There's still the sights,
There's still the sounds,
There's still the sensations in the body.
There's most definitely thoughts that are creeping in and allowing you to drift off into daydreaming or planning or ruminating.
But is it possible to just be in the moment and just be in the moment,
But is it possible to just spotlight the breath?
Can we make it centre stage in the field of our awareness?
Not trying to make all of the other things go away,
But simply attuning our attention to the breath as our primary focus.
And doing so with kindness and compassion,
And hopefully if we're commuting at the end of the day,
The mind will have a tendency to wander more,
Just because it's been busy.
And that's okay.
The practice is simply in tuning in whenever we notice it's wandered and coming back.
So you might choose to continue this practice after I complete,
Or you might choose to finish the practice with me when the bell rings and go about your commute in whatever way feels appropriate for you now.
But just remembering that you always have this opportunity to transition differently to the way you might on automatic pilot.
There's always an opportunity to just come back to how you are right in this moment and allow yourself to come into each next new experience with fresh eyes.
Let's just finish by paying attention to the next few breaths together.
Just breathing in and paying attention to just this inhalation.
Breathing out,
Paying attention to just this exhalation.
And just working breath by breath,
Moment by moment in your own time until you hear the sound of the bell.
Bell
