‘Empty’ time crops up constantly when you’re on the move - and most of us do a certain amount of traveling every day. Surprisingly, commuting can provide the perfect opportunity for a little quiet light meditation.

Look around you the next time you are on the train and notice just how many fellow passengers have their eyes shut-yet still seem able to wake up just as the train pulls into their station.

You can do a kind of ‘meditation-lite’ on the train in order to maintain a certain amount of vigilance. You don’t want to go into a deep state only to come back to find your bag snatched. Whenever you meditate you should maintain a certain alertness.

Light Meditation While Waiting At The Station

• Sit or stand, looking out, but slightly down.
• Take a deep breath and blow out through your mouth. As you exhale, relax your lips, jaw and shoulders. Feel tension sliding out of you; via your mouth, fingertips, the soles of your feet. Let it slip like oil onto the ground and be absorbed.
• Repeat a few times.

On The Train

• Sit or stand, looking down and slightly to the right.
• Take a deep breath through your nose and let it out very slowly. Do this a few times and consciously relax. If you’re standing, bend your knees a little.
• Listen to the train’s rhythm.
• Feel the movement through your body. Sway round corners.
• Keep breathing. Stay relaxed. Notice your body.
• Feel the heat that your own body generates all around you and a short distance from your body.
• Get off at your station.