I love driving.. mindfully
I used to commute to my job along the freeway / motorway. It was a 45 minute drive in the morning and a 1 hour drive in the afternoon / evening.
After 10 years with the same commute I had travelled the equivalent of 1.5 times around the circumference of the earth! I tried so many things to make the time “productive”.
I listened to podcasts, audiobooks, radio, educational courses. I used massage balls to release tension in different parts of my body and I took audio recordings to note down any thoughts that came to my mind. I raced through traffic, feeling proud of picking the fastest moving lane at any point in time.
But I could not maintain the speed limit without a cruise control function. In fact I thought it was preposterous that the police expected us to, and I exclaimed this to my colleagues often. I claimed that it was unsafe to mandate that drivers must look down to check the speedometer every few seconds instead of looking at the road.
Then I returned home from my first silent meditation retreat. After 7 days and nights in silence, spending over 6 hours a day in seated stillness, my awareness of my body and my surroundings was tremendously improved.
I remember that first commute when I returned. I didn’t want the radio on, it felt like too much stimulation. There was plenty of stimulation for my senses, simply in the process of driving.
I scanned the road around me, calmly shifting my gaze from one thing to another. I could feel the vibration in the car seat, in my hands, the pressure on my foot from the pedal, the sound of the engine and tire noise. I checked my speedo, adjusted my right foot to reach the speed limit and then settled my awareness on my surroundings.
I could feel the pressure on my foot gradually changing from the throttle pedal.. I was decelerating impulsively because I had noticed a car indicating to change lanes in front of me. The engine noise changed frequency, the tire noise changed intensity.
I thought to myself, I won’t check the speedo, I’ll try and return to 100km/h just using my senses and keeping my eyes on my surroundings.. after a few breaths in what I thought was the right speed, I looked down.. pretty close 104km/h.
I trained myself again over the next few opportunities and before I knew it, every drive felt like a new experience of getting to know the sounds of the road that day, the way the weight of the car shifted around on the suspension as I introduced braking, steering and acceleration.
I now always drive with the music off and use the opportunity to practice mindfulness. Not all mindfulness has to be seated and still in ‘meditation’. This is a task where I love to get in touch with my senses, with the present moment.
What part of your life do you think you would love stripping back all the noise from and tuning in to your senses?
