I am one of those people who rushes needlessly. I am always bloody rushing, thinking about what needs to be done next. Today I realised that I am even rushing when I'm strolling along.....rushing in my head at least.....planning stuff, focusing on where I'm going and what needs to be done. In between rushing, I might get my phone out, check every single inbox several times, stop at the lights, check the news, stop at the crossing, take a photo. This fidgety, compulsive behaviour fills in the gaps that a mere 3 years ago (pre-iPhone), I would just have looked around, breathed the air, taken it all in. The less there are of these mental down-time moments, the more rushy and busy and exhausted I feel. This is what my first experience with walking meditation reminded me of today.
The walking podcast simply (and of course very politely) interrupts this habitual behaviour. In Andy's very pragmatic style, he reminds you to lift your eyes up, look around you, feel the proverbial wind in your hair, the sun on your face and smell the roses......and it worked for me today. I did my normal route to the local shops, baby strapped into the carrier and had a thoroughly pleasant experience - even going the long way home. There was nothing particularly special about the day or the weather or my frame of mind, other than I had 10 mins at the start of the walk with the nice man talking in my ear. If the only way to meditate was to sit quietly in a corner, I'd have been really struggling today.
This is a valuable lesson to me and possibly a bit of an aha moment in the course so far. As Andy suggests, I am trying very hard to be more mindful, more present, less distracted in my daily life but I do find it challenging (my neural pathways have a whole lot of RUSHING etched into them!) Today showed me I can still do everyday things, jobs even, and be mindful at the same time......and get to the end of it and feel great. Relaxed. Calm, Content. Mentally rested. That's what I'm talking about! That's what make me ZEN is all about.
On further inspection, I see there are Headspace meditation podcasts for eating, commuting, going to sleep plus those dealing specifically with stress, relationships, technology (!!! I need this one) and sport. Is there nowhere I can't meditate?! Multi-tasking HE.....VEAN!!!
Get the links here