Mindfulness Meditation (For Everyday Life)

places. I'm on my way up only to be on my way down,
after I've found what I'm looking for, or gone to the
bathroom, or whatever.
So I discover that I am frequently pulled by my need
to be somewhere else, or by the next thing I think
needs to happen, or the next place I think I'm
supposed to be. When I find myself racing upstairs,
usually two steps at a time, I sometimes have the
presence of mind to catch myself in mid-frenetic
dash. I become conscious of being slightly out of
breath, aware that my heart is racing as well as my
mind, that the whole of my being in that moment is
being driven by some hurried purpose which often
even eludes me by the time I'm up there.
When I am able to capture this wave of energy in
awareness while I am still at the bottom of the stairs
or starting on my way up, I will sometimes slow my
ascent - not just one step at a time, but really slow,
maybe one breath cycle per step, reminding myself
that there is really no place I have to go and nothing I
have to get that can't wait another moment for the
sake of being fully in this one.
I find that when I remember to do this, I am more in
touch along the way and more centered at the top. I
also find that there is hardly ever an outward hurry.
Only an inner one, usually driven by impatience and a