This past weekend I visited my friend in New York City. It was an absolutely wonderful weekend other than the extremely hot and humid weather that we ran into. One of my absolute favorite things to do when traveling is walking around with no particular agenda or place to see. Kind of a random exploring of the city to get the feel of it. I’ve been to NYC many times and I’m quite familiar with it, but I still enjoy this process of aimlessly walking around.
I also enjoy taking public transit as opposed to cabs. It’s kind of a double bonus. I save some money and I get to travel with the locals and see parts of the city I don’t normally see. We flew into LaGuardia, and as some of you may know, it’s not exactly convenient taking public transit into Manhattan from this airport. This didn’t deter me. I was able to find the correct bus, which took my wife and I down some very beautiful streets in Queens that were full of bustling people going about their daily activities. Yes, I did just use Queens and beautiful in the same sentence. From there we hopped on the E train, which took us to SoHo, where my friend works.
Before I digress too far, it might be beneficial to explain where I am going with all of this. I was reminded once again this past weekend why I like traveling so much. It’s because I’m so completely mindful and in the moment while traveling.
Natural Mindfulness
I would say that the large majority of the time when we travel we are in an extremely mindful state. Some of this is out of complete necessity. For example, we might arrive in a city for the first time and have no clue as to where we are. In order to orient ourselves, we become mindful of our surroundings. What are some of the landmarks nearby? What direction am I walking? What neighborhood or area am I in?
Another large portion of being mindful comes simply from the ‘newness’ and ‘uniqueness’ of the place we’re in. While walking through the West Village I was keenly aware of the narrowness of the streets, all of the cafes and restaurants with people sitting outside enjoying a coffee or lunch and the beautiful, old buildings. It kind of reminded me of walking around in the Latin Quarter in Paris. I had the pleasure of enjoying an unobstructed and amazing view of the majority of Manhattan from a bar at the Standard Hotel. I was struck by and aware of just how many people and buildings are packed onto the small island that’s roughly 13 miles long and 2 miles wide.
For me, this increased state of mindfulness is one of the main reasons that I enjoy traveling so much. Whenever I travel, I am more often than not completely ‘there’ with whatever experience is going on. I’m appreciative of the new smells, sights, sounds and sensations. This state of complete presence can bring about a sense of great equanimity and peace.
Having said the above, I think at times there can be a certain addiction and attachment that comes from this increased mindfulness when traveling. I don’t mean this to be preachy or condescending, but rather to point out that we should be aware of this. Heck, I noticed it myself when I got back from New York City. I was already thinking about where I could go next for a short trip. I found myself at work thinking about the fun things I did over the weekend instead of being present where I actually was. This points out how easy it is for us to get caught up in memories, stories and projections created in our mind instead of really being here in the moment.
The question then becomes, ‘how do we bring this mindful state into our everyday lives?’
Ways to Bring Mindfulness Into Our Everyday Lives
Here are a couple of suggestions that will help you be more mindful in your everyday life:
- Mindful Walking: I wrote a post a few months back that really got to the essence of this. So many of us are stuck in our heads on our way to work or while we run errands. Start to become more mindful of your walking. Notice your surroundings. Although we may travel the same routes everyday, in reality, they are always different. The breeze and weather are different, the colors are different, the sounds are different. Become aware of this.
- Mindful Standing: Lately, I’ve been practicing the Mountain Pose (Tadasana) while I wait for the train. This is not only an excellent activity to do for improving my posture, but it also allows me to be more mindful of where I’m at. Instead of looking at my watch, e-mailing or thinking about work, I can really take stock of where I’m at and how I’m feeling.
- Mindful Eating: Take the time to truly eat your food instead of rushing through it to get to the next thing. Smell your food. Really taste it. What is the texture? How does it feel in your mouth? Where does your food come from? Did a waiter/waitress serve it to you? Did you buy it at the grocery store and then prepare it? Notice how many people are involved in getting you the food that you eat.
What other ways do you try to stay mindful in your everyday life? I’d love to know.
Photo Credit: Stuck in Customs
I’m Nate, a writer, mindfulness practitioner and student of the inner workings of the mind.
Nate, I think your analysis is quite true. I, too, enjoy this higher state of mindfulness on my travels, and it may indeed get a little addictive. I will certainly be thinking about the consequences of this during the next time.
As for mindfulness in daily life, how about practicing it while in contact with others? So often, our minds wander away while we are sharing a moment with somebody, and that’s often a pity. Listening, really engaging with the person at the moment, that’s an important part of mindfulness, too, I think.
Fabian | The Friendly Anarchist´s last [type] ..A Trip To Outloggistan
Without a doubt Fabian. I include myself in that category (I think we all can at times). I’ve definitely been practicing mindful listening and it’s even on my list of topics to write about! Thanks for bringing it up
Great insight Nate. I’d never thought about travel in that way before but I agree, when I am in new surroundings my mind is really present and aware of what’s going on compared to the sometimes similar days in my day to day life. A change of scenery can be really like a breath of fresh air.
Right Jen. This is a lot of what we like about travel. The new scenes, the excitement, the novelty, the new cultures, etc, etc.
I don’t mean that as a bad thing. I absolutely love traveling. Where we run into problems is if we become addicted to it or we think that we are somehow better, wiser or more cultured than a person who hasn’t traveled much. Again, I walk a fine line in saying this and I don’t want to make offense. So, it’s not so much the travel that’s a bad thing, but it’s some of the thoughts and stories we create around travel that might cause problems.
In writing this I wanted to point out two things: 1) We are naturally more mindful when we travel…especially to new places and 2) We can actually bring that mindfulness into our everyday lives. There’s just as much to be learned from being mindful ‘here’ is there is ‘there’
Nate, thinking about it, I came to exactly the same conclusion: We should transpond the travelers’ mindfulness into our daily lives! (It’s a bit more, actually: I think that travel, in some sense, never really ends, as life itself is a travel. What changes is our mindset, so there’s the connection… I am currently writing about that and will hopefully have a post up on that topic tomorrow!)
Fabian | The Friendly Anarchist´s last [type] ..A Trip To Outloggistan
I’m glad you did!
In all seriousness though (and humor), yes, that is exactly what I wanted to point out. Our mindset is definitely what changes. I attribute this to two factors: 1) Out of necessity (i.e. we’re more mindful b/c we have to figure out where we are and where we’re going when we travel,so that naturally brings about a mindful state) and 2) Out of the newness and fun of travel. We’re in a different routine, there are new sights, sounds and smells that put us in a mindful state.
What we can hopefully try to do is bring some of this mindfulness into our everyday lives. Let’s face it – most days are fairly routine for most and there’s a lot of repetition (same routine in morning, go to our jobs, take care of kids, run errands, do chores, etc.). This is our life! I referred to my ‘are we sleepwalking through life post’ as kind of a relation to this. The question is can we wake up in our everyday lives and be more mindful?
Interesting, how traveling tends to have the opposite effect on me! I posted on that topic quite a bit during my last trip to Paris.
Each moment, each new place, each situation, a new opportunity to learn about self, and ways that we are with awareness.
With much metta,
marguerite
Marguerite Manteau-Rao´s last [type] ..The Men They Learned From
Uh oh! Hmmm…maybe my hypothesis is lacking something then since you find the opposite to be true
That is very interesting though. What I also find interesting for myself is my perception of time when I travel. When I first get to my destination and everything seems new and exciting, time actually seems to slow for me. Again, I think it’s because I’m more mindful and in the moment…kind of like there is no time. But as I get to a routine in my travels, specifically on longer trips, time seems to speed up again. Kind of a ‘woah – that went quick’ feeling.
I agree about traveling. In fact, reaching that level of mindfulness is basically why I travel.
I tend to seek out places where my past experiences are no longer useful – way out of my comfort zone – so that I am forced to be mindful at all times. Only then do I find myself able to observe and absorb the experiences instead of simply having them pass by unnoticed.
And while I do think that there is no reason why we can’t fully absorb our everyday experiences as well, I don’t really know how to achieve that state in such circumstances as I don’t really have a normal, daily life!
I like the suggestion of mindful standing. Here in Mexico I’ve started leaving my cell phone at my apartment when I go out as a way to avoid fiddling around with it for no reason throughout the day.
Earl´s last [type] ..A Moment’s Loss of Faith in Humanity
Earl – that’s a great idea about the cell phone. I always find that I’m messing around with my phone for no reason at all…a very ‘un’mindful habit.
And yeah, I understand not having a ‘normal’ everyday life. There are some people who are truly doing different things each day and don’t have a particular routine. I’m wondering though…while you’re in Playa del Carmen do you have some sort of general routine daily or is it pretty random every day?
My life down here in Playa is more than random with very little routine at all. I have to make frequent trips to Cancun (with little notice) and that disrupts any hope for consistency.
In a way, I guess it is a good thing because my time here doesn’t get stale but of course, it is also an exhausting way to live as well.
Earl´s last [type] ..A Moment’s Loss of Faith in Humanity