Your Car Can Be a Great Place to Meditatate . . .

. . . as long as you don't close your eyes.

If you have to deal with rush hour traffic or have a long commute everyday, use that time to your benefit. For heaven's sake, turn off the music--it's not bringing you peace, it's programming you--and turn off talk radio--it's designed to get you spun up.

Just because it's rush hour doesn't mean you have to be in a rush. Hang out in the slow lane. Let people in, let people pass you. It won't make an appreciable difference in your arrival time, but it will make an appreciable difference in your blood pressure and it will give you space to look inward instead of outward.

Pay attention to your breathing, one breath at a time. In, out, rest. Your breath is always happening now. This is the simplest of meditations. It brings you to the present moment very quickly and easily. And what problems do you ever have right now?


Pay attention to the silence. It may be uncomfortable at first but you'll get used to it, and then you won't be able to do without it. Roll down the window and pay attention to the road and traffic sounds. They are happening here and now. Anytime you're doing that, you're bring more presence into your life and therefore more peace.

Go into your body. Feel your feet from the inside. Feel that tingle? That's your soul. Feel your hands. Feel your legs, your torso, arms, neck, head. Put it all together. Feel that inner glow. Your soul is always in the moment. It's alive and eternal right now.

Pay attention to your mind. Still the thoughts running through your head one moment at a time. There is a peaceful pause, but then here come the thoughts again. You notice it--that's awareness rising. Try for two moments this time. Then three. The gaps in thinking get wider and soon you're in your driveway or the parking lot at work feeling refreshed.

And you will have gained a little bit of understanding about the nature of reality: that it is good.

Photo from Wikipedia (By B137 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=48998674)