Parking Lot Meditation

“A conscious breath -in and out- is a meditation.” I love this quote by Eckhart Tolle. The deeper I walk into the forest of my own personal spirituality, the more I have found meditation at the heart. There is a reason why people are exploring what meditation is and how to do it. The mind holds a lock over our bodies at times or for some- all the time. Meditation can be key (or THE key) in discovering what influences our thoughts are having on our physical body (or emotional or psychological or spiritual body). Really....I’m not feeding you fluffy new-age sentiment, check out the research- meditation affects heart rate, respiration, blood pressure etc. It is definitely worth the try.

My problem is trying to fit it in (think square peg in round hole). It sure feels like that at times. Being a mother to 4 boys and the seemingly endless to-do list glaring at me on my fridge, making time for such a simple but powerful practice as meditation doesn’t exist in the way I would like it to.

But I had an epiphany the other month, it is not about “fitting” it in, it is about “allowing” it to happen! So enter parking lot meditations. As a mother, I find myself sitting in my car a lot ( pick up or drop off lines, sliding into a space before I head into work or the grocery store, taking the dog to the Vet), you get the picture. These car moments are for the most part alone and that is all I need- quiet space and me, myself and I. I’ve been doing my parking lot meditations for a month now and LOVE them! Sometimes I put my earbuds on and listen to one on my iPod, other times it is enjoying the silence and letting that take me deeper or even allowing the muffled sounds I hear around my car become the meditation.

I won’t lie, at first I thought about what a passerby might think seeing me sitting in my car with my eyes shut (weirdo alert), but then THAT became part of a meditation on “letting go” and now I don’t give a flying fart about it. So I encourage you to try a parking lot meditation some time. No more excuses on not having time to meditate. Or like Eckhart Tolle says....just take one deep conscious breath -in and out-.