Hi, welcome back to

your Daily Mindfulness.

In today's session, I want to talk

about loving kindness in real life,

especially while you're traveling.

So I recently went on a road trip across

the United States, which was a lot of fun,

something I've wanted to do my whole life.

And on a road trip, you have a

lot of time in the car alone.

At least in this case, I was alone.

And there were a lot of like, really

open roads where I didn't see many

cars, but a lot of the time there

were a lot of people passing by.

People I'd see on the side of the

road, you know, going through cities

and towns and cars driving by me.

And I found it to be a really great

opportunity for meditation practice.

Obviously it can't be done with the

eyes closed and sitting cross-legged.

But if we think of meditation as an

intentional awareness practice, where

moment to moment we're practicing being

present, attuned to what's going on in

our minds, being on the road, on the open

road is a great opportunity to do that

because there's a certain mundane nature

to it, especially on these really long

stretches where you can get into a rhythm.

And I really liked practicing loving

kindness meditation, which involves

using phrases, as you're aware of that.

We've done different meditations

here on Mindfulness.com, where you're

sending wishes of wellbeing to people.

May you be happy.

May you be safe.

May you be healthy.

And so I find it's a great

practice to do while I'm driving.

A car will drive by.

Maybe they'll be cutting

me off or something.

But I'll just say, may you be happy.

Another car will drive

by, may you be safe.

And I'm using each of these as little

triggers for a certain way of relating

to them, but also the moment that

is aligned with cultivating certain

qualities in my heart, in this case,

compassion, empathy, love, and care.

And it's something I want to offer you

as well as something you can do while

you're driving, but it can also be done

in many different areas of your life.

While you're going for a walk and you

see people or you see insects or animals,

all of these can be opportunities to

cultivate a certain quality of mind.

And in this case, a certain quality

of heart where you can say, may

you be happy, may you be safe.

When I'm driving, I sometimes like

to imagine that my whole car is just

emitting this bubble of loving kindness.

And so wherever I'm driving,

everything is enveloped in it.

The people maybe on the side of the road,

the cars that are around me, and the

animals that might be there, the trees.

And so I just feel like I'm

this bubble of loving kindness,

driving through the landscape.

I also like to do that when I'm walking.

You can figure out your own practice, but

I think it's really important for us to

find ways to take what we might do on our

meditation cushion into our real life.

And when we view meditation for what it

is, separate from sitting cross-legged on

a cushion, and more of this intentional

way of training our mind and relating

to our experience in a different

intentional way, then every moment can

become an opportunity for meditation.

And especially those moments where

we're in the car and just long

stretches without distraction can

be really useful opportunities.

So try it out and see if it works for you.

That's something I really enjoy.

And if you happen to drive by me

somewhere in the United States, I'll be

sure to send you some loving kindness.

Thank you for your practice.

Let's settle in for today's meditation.