Our Coronavirus Road Trip

We’ve all been there. For sure if you’re a parent, but if not then you only have to remember back to your childhood. The long road trip with mom and dad in the front seat and the kids in the back bored out of their minds. It’s just a matter of time before that incessant, and annoying question comes from the kids in the back seat – “are we there yet?”

The Coronavirus Road Trip And Meditation

Recently it occurred to me that this classic road trip phenomenon is also occurring in these times of lockdown. It is like we are all on a global “coronavirus road trip” where we know it is just a matter of time before it will end… but we just don’t know when.

The world is on the corona-recovery road back to normal, but this trip seems like it will never end. Our collective patience is screaming “are we there yet?”

This very same phenomenon arises in your meditation. You receive instructions, you practice your meditation techniques, you set up a regular mindfulness meditation routine, and establish your self in the practice of mindfulness meditation.

But from time to time, your inner child, in the back seat of your mind starts up – “are we there yet?” This phenomenon is universal in both, meditation and in life. There’s really no way to avoid it, and that’s the bad news.

But there is good news. When you learn how to work with your inner “are we there yet?” in meditation, you learn how to work with, and even overcome it in every other aspect of your life.

In the below Dharma Talk, I speak about this universal tendency of the mind, and I share how it connects with my own children, and the clever song and game we sing to bring us all back into the present moment.

Enjoy!

Question: What practices, or even games, do you have to keep you mindful of the “our we there yet?” mind, and stay in the present moment? Join the conversation and leave a comment below?