Now just fold your hands. Breathe in and breathe out. Feeling calm? Feeling relaxed? Of course you are because you are meditating in a room without any distractions. Maybe you have a candle lit or some soft music playing. Nice and calm isn’t it? But is your whole life nice and calm? Is it calm at work or busy and frantic with deadlines and targets to meet? How about on your way to work or out shopping? Busy. Busy. Busy. Stress mounting and anger rising. No wonder you need to shut everything out at the end of the day.

While the above meditation is also great I have found out over the years that meditating in busy urban places such as shopping centres, train stations. Or anywhere along a busy street you can find a bench, can often become the most peaceful and calmest of meditation of them all.

The expectation is to seek out a peaceful environment when meditating which is quite right. Of course life isn’t always peaceful so when you suddenly stop and decide to find a seat amidst the chaos then it can turn out to be a double lesson. This is because you are learning to carry that peace you feel inside you, when at home, with you into the busy and hectic world.

Urban Meditation requires no extras other than to find a place to sit whether in a shopping centre, train station, or along the high street. The busier the better. Instead of worrying about exactly how you sit with your legs just try to sit upright the best you can and place your hands palm down onto your thighs and then either look out into the distance and do as you would normally do. Feel the air coming through your nose. Feel your feet on the ground. Feel your chest and stomach going in and out.

At first you will feel more restless than usual as so much is going on around you but you can just stare ahead and not be worried about what is going on. Sometimes it may not feel as peaceful as the meditation at home but just sit there and gaze ahead. The fact that you are just stopping when you are usually harrying is an important lesson. If you are really lucky you will fall into a deep peace but as always no expectation. Sometimes its fun just watching everyone else rushing around.

The best time to do this is especially when you are very busy, or very angry. If you can catch yourself in one of those mega-moods then just look immediately for a bench and sit and watch the world go by. Just chew on that really big negative mood with your mind. It’s really important to do so that you take in and accept the chaos of the world around you and when you go home to meditate it will be even better than before. Please find a busy place to meditate and send in your pics of where you sat. Thanks.