Mindfulness: 3-minute grounding meditation, on your commute

About this practice

When mindfulness shows up on your commute, this 3-minute grounding session gives you somewhere to put it down. A guided session of about 3 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: mindfulness

Attention spends most of its time in the past or the future. Being present is not a state you find, it is a return you keep making.

It tends to show up as:

• Missing conversations while composing replies
• Arriving somewhere with no memory of the walk
• Eating without tasting

Every return to the senses is a repetition of the actual skill. Losing it is part of the practice, not a break in it.

Doing this on your commute

• Headphones on, eyes open or closed depending on your comfort
• Keep one part of your attention on your stop
• Do it standing if sitting is not possible — nobody is watching

Commuting time is already dead time. Nothing is being given up.

How grounding works

Grounding brings attention to physical contact and the immediate environment. It works on the principle that the body cannot be somewhere else, so contact with the surface you are on is always available as an anchor.

• Feel the contact points — feet, seat, back — and let them take your weight
• Use the senses deliberately: what you can see, hear, touch
• Return to solidity whenever attention drifts

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00Put both feet flat on the floor and let them take some of the weight.
2. 0:14If your mind has gone somewhere else, the floor under you has not moved. Start from there.
3. 0:29You can let your eyes close now if they weren't already.
4. 0:41Notice the first breath of the day versus this one. They're the same mechanism.
5. 0:55Let your breathing get quieter rather than deeper.
6. 1:06Notice your hands again. Check whether they've loosened on their own.
7. 1:18Imagine softening the edges of the present moment you keep leaving. Not erasing it, just letting the sharp parts go a degree softer.
8. 1:36Nothing about the here-and-now your attention skips has to be explained or justified in this room.
9. 1:51Notice the small gap after each exhale. Rest there for half a second.
10. 2:04You have been carrying the ordinary present tense for a while. You can set it down for the length of this session and pick it up after.
11. 2:24If you're thinking about the next thing on your list, that list will still be there.
12. 2:39Feel the contact points — feet, seat, back. That contact is the whole anchor.
13. 2:53Stretch whatever feels stiff, then carry on.

Questions people ask

Meditation is a practice, not a treatment. If you are dealing with ongoing distress, please also reach out to a professional.