Welcome to this informal guided meditation for the period of time in which you are driving or commuting to work.
This meditation is intended to relieve periods of workplace stress and anxiety.
Begin by simply becoming aware of the present.
A simple opening of awareness to the here and now.
And recognize that you can do this even whilst engaged in the activity of driving.
You can stay focused on the activity of driving whilst simply being very aware of the present.
Simply notice everything that the sense perceptions are receiving.
The feeling of the steering wheel in the hand.
What the car smells like currently.
All of the sounds of the car and the road noise around you.
How does the seat feel?
And notice the temperature in the car also.
And recognize that you can be aware of all of these things while remaining attentive to the activity of driving.
And just be open to these things.
There's nothing more complicated than this for now.
Just being aware of the present.
The activity of driving itself is quite meditative.
It is simple and requires focus.
So devote all attention into the present activity of driving.
Notice how neutral this activity really is.
It is not stressful.
It is not too demanding of your attention.
You are able to operate the vehicle safely and effectively whilst being fully present in the here and now.
Just this.
Just this.
And notice it is enjoyable to drive.
Simple,
Small activities that all help to bring your attention into the here and now.
Notice the simplicity and the calmness of this present moment.
There is no next moment.
Just this moment now.
Just be here with all of the sounds,
The scent in the car,
The temperature,
The sensations of your hand on the wheel,
The feeling of the car seat.
Just be here with these senses.
And recognize the mind is not necessary here.
Everything is simply unfolding automatically.
Just notice the natural unfolding of all the shapes and colors.
And recognize there is a purpose to life.
There's a calmness,
A simplicity,
Even in the midst of a fairly busy activity.
And going a little deeper now.
Recognizing that it's only ever the present moment.
The present moment,
The here and now,
Is a necessary element for all of your experience.
No matter what activity you are engaged in,
It must be the present moment in order to experience that activity.
Currently,
You are experiencing the activity of driving in the present moment.
As the day unfolds,
You will at some point notice that you are experiencing the activity of your workplace.
In order to experience the activity of your workplace,
It will be the present moment.
So there is no need to be apprehensive,
To worry,
To predict,
Or imagine how the rest of the day is going to go.
It is impossible to predict the future.
There is an infinite number of things that could potentially happen.
So it is a waste of time to worry.
Instead,
Use that energy to simply be present at all times.
The only certainty about this imaginary future is that anything that is ever experienced will be experienced within the present.
Just as you are able to focus on the activity of driving whilst also remaining fully present,
You will be able to complete all the activities of work whilst remaining fully present.
Allow all experience to take place within you.
As you,
And rest always in the secure knowledge of the permanence of now.
There is no next moment.
It simply never arrives.
So all of the potential events,
Situations,
Circumstances,
Conversations,
Emails,
Phone calls,
Messages,
In their infinite potential complexity,
All share one simple secure truth.
When you experience these things,
It will be now.
And in the now,
Is anything a problem?
Can you feel the secure confidence growing?
The activity of driving that you are currently doing is important.
Your attention and psychological activity is necessary.
But it's not stressful.
It's not a problem.
All of the decisions you have to make,
The little judgments,
The little analysis,
All of the choices that must be made in order to drive to work.
This is not stressful.
It is quite enjoyable.
It has fallen into the background whilst you enjoy presence.
And what if work could be just like this?
There are many decisions that must be made throughout the day.
Many situations that must be dealt with.
Many conversations that need to be had.
And there could be strong emotions present in your job.
But all of these things will take place within the now.
And notice the automatic unfolding of all experience.
You are not in control of what arises.
You do not choose for the unexpected events to occur.
They just occur.
This is automatic.
You cannot predict this.
It is impossible.
It's futile.
So why bother?
What if instead you chose to remain fully present and just handle whatever arises?
Just take care of whatever the moment is demanding.
Simply process whatever needs to be processed within the now.
Even if there is a very demanding,
Very urgent nature to your workplace.
If things frequently require immediate psychological activity and is very demanding,
Recognize that it's possible to take care of all these things in a very present way.
And by developing the ability to draw attention entirely into the now,
You will find that the quality of your work improves.
Just the task at hand,
The task in front of your eyes,
Devote 100% attention just to that.
And you will notice things begin to become very smooth,
Very simple,
Very pure.
Just as you are focusing on the task of driving now with 100% attention,
All activities and tasks in the workplace can all be given the same level of attention,
The same level of focus,
The same energy,
The same consciousness.
And bring your attention again into the here and now with no prediction about the future.
The act of driving or commuting as you are now is very neutral.
If you simply cease thinking about what's going on,
Where you are traveling to,
In the present moment you will find you could be traveling anywhere.
It is only due to our prediction about the place we are traveling to causing us stress that causes us to feel anxiety even when no problems are present.
We are predicting discomfort in the future.
And through predicting anxiety and stress,
We end up pre-feeling anxiety and stress.
This is not necessary.
Just be within the here and now and there is no need to predict.
Anything.
And notice that without this prediction,
Without imagination or apprehension,
The stress and anxiety simply melts away.
There's just no problem.
Nothing is happening.
Nothing is happening.
There is nothing to be done.
All is well.
Everything is simple,
Pure.
In this moment,
There are no situations,
No circumstance,
Nothing is demanding.
Just is.
Just this.
So at any moment throughout any day,
You can return to the present.
Just notice the now.
And ask,
Is there a problem now?
Is there an issue now?
Or is the problem and issue mostly in the mind?
By returning to the now and devoting all energy and attention into the now,
Repeatedly,
Consistently,
You will find that the sense of anxiety and stress can begin to diminish.
May not vanish immediately,
But it's a very good start.
And so throughout the day today,
If you find that you can sense that you are getting lost in anxiety,
Stress,
And worry,
If you find that you are beginning to succumb and get trapped within streams of thought,
Just try returning to the present through the senses,
The temperature is a powerful one.
Things you can hear is powerful.
Scent is very powerful.
So whatever your workplace environment contains,
Just a noticing through the senses.
Nobody needs to know that you're doing this.
Nobody will be able to tell that you're becoming present.
Just choose to do this for yourself as a loving and compassionate way to bring your sense of being back to presence and feel the security of this,
The groundedness of this.
You will find an untapped reserve of energy,
Infinite energy,
That is waiting for you there in the present moment.
At all times.
Thank you so much for doing this informal guided meditation with me today.
I truly hope your day is smooth,
Peaceful.
And if it is busy,
If it is energetic,
I hope that it is a productive and healthy day for you.
Use today as an opportunity to practice this,
Even if you can just take 10 or 30 seconds at a time,
Perhaps on a lunch break or even a toilet break or cigarette break.
Just see if you can just take a moment or two just to become fully present and notice,
Notice how the quality of your day changes.
Thank you again.
I wish you all the best.
Take care,
Be well and stay present.
