Ideas for Practicing Mindfulness Whilst Waiting in a Public Space

Those of us who frequently travel on public transport are experiencing delays and cancellations on a regular basis. As passengers, there’s nothing we can do about it whilst we’re in the situation. The only thing we can influence is our response.

Here are some ideas how to minimise frustration and use waiting times as an opportunity to practice mindfulness.

– Feel the connection of your feet to the floor whilst standing or sitting. Enjoy a couple of minutes of grounding yourself in the midst of people around you moving.
– Feel your breath entering and exiting your body. If you want, you can also pay attention to smells / the absence of smells. Try to simply label the smells without classing them as pleasant/unpleasant.
– Look for areas in your body which feel good or neutral. It can be an area as small as the tip of your thumb. Rest your attention there for some moments.
– Look for areas in your body which feel tense. Typical areas include the jaw, tongue, shoulders, back, neck, temples…See if you would like to release a small amount of tension.
– Watch fellow travellers without judgement / creation of stories in the mind. Watch stories and commentaries in your head arise (e.g. ‘ I bet he works in a bank’) and put them aside. Simply observe (e.g. ‘This person is wearing a green jumper’, rather than ‘I really like/ don’t like the green jumper this person is wearing’.)
– Watch your thoughts arise and pass. If thoughts of impatience and frustration arise (e.g. ‘This train is always delayed, I am going to miss my connection again!’),try to label them (e.g. ‘angry thought’) and let them pass. If watching your thoughts gets tiring, return to feeling your feet on the floor.

Enjoy your next missed connection – it will come for sure:)