Practising Mindfulness in Cities

4 minutes reading time

Any city can be a challenging place to practise mindfulness. There are many ‘sense contacts’ which can easily lead to a feeling of overwhelm. At the same time, a city offers wonderful opportunities to practise mindfulness. Here are some ideas.

• Feel the movement of walking. Feet touching the pavement. Human body moving amongst other human bodies. Notice when a feeling of impatience arises, e.g. whilst waiting at the traffic light. Ask yourself: Why am I rushing? Can I notice the feeling of standing instead, feel the sensations in the body whilst I am ‘waiting’. Waiting for what exactly? What is more important than being present with this moment? What changes if I allow the sense of impatience/urgency/restlessness to be there, but focus on where I can feel it in the body…?
• Take in smells. Perfumes, food, fumes…Try to cultivate an interest in the nature of the smell, whether pleasant, unpleasant or neutral. Notice any craving which might arise towards the pleasant (e.g. food) or aversion towards the unpleasant (e.g. cigarette smoke, traffic fumes). What happens if I simply label the smells as what they are, rather than following up the story of ‘I like/don’t like this smell’?
• Take in sounds. Cars,buses,trains. Conversations, birds, children. Wheelie cases on cobbled streets. Beeping, scrunching, whistling. Try to hear as fully as you can, without getting lost in stories of liking or disliking the sound.
• Feel the touch of nature surrounding you. The breeze of wind on your skin. The warmth of sunshine. The wetness of rain. Contemplate that everything is nature. The weeds growing amongst the slabs of concrete as well as the cold metal chair you are sitting on. The pigeons hunting for crumbs as well as the shoes you are wearing.
• If you are feeling overwhelmed by the amount of sense contacts a city offers, seek out places of quiet. Sit silently in a place of worship for a while. Take a train to a close by forest. Take an early morning walk in the park. Sit on a bench close to the river. Spent some quiet time in a gallery/library/book shop. Do whatever it is that evokes a THANK YOU from your nervous system. If you enjoy it: do more of it!
• Become aware of your internal reactions as you encounter strangers. They might appear friendly, unfriendly or neutral.
• If you are faced with a challenging/unfriendly person, contemplate: they might be going through a hard time. A loved one might have died recently, they might be having relationship problems, struggle with a serious illness. They might hardly have slept for weeks, sick with worry for a loved one. Whatever it might be, one thing is sure: in the moment they are being unkind, they are not happy. Reflect on similar situations in your life. Contemplate what you have in common with all those strangers you encounter. Every single one of them wants to be happy, none of them wants to suffer. They all face challenges in their lifes, just like me. At times they might find skilful ways to look for happiness, and at times they might fail. Just like me.
• See if a sense of appreciation can arise for any acts of kindness you witness. A smile from the person pouring you a coffee. A friendly word from the train attendant. Somebody supporting an elderly person. A mother playing with her toddler. Reflect on small acts of kindness you could offer to strangers. Appreciate the intention of doing something kind, regardless of the result. Never underestimate the power of kindness. A smile, a kind word can make someones day.
• Look at a stranger which appears neither friendly nor unfriendly. See what happens inside yourself when you send them some good silent wishes: May you be well. May you be happy. May you be at ease.

Enjoy the opportunities for mindfulness practice a city offers. And most importantly: be kind to yourself when you feel overwhelmed. This, too, is human. This, too, is practice. Go gently, always. On concrete slabs or forest tracks.