Meditation in Daily Activities

I wanted to share some ideas for mindfulness practice in daily activities. It has come up in several of my classes where the opportunity to find time to meditate is sometimes a problem. In addition to formal sitting practice, I encourage people to have a meditation experience in the activities that they do every day.
Mindfulness meditation is something we do to develop concentration, clarity and equanimity.
So do your activity mindfully!

For example: driving

1. make an intention when you get in the car to have this be a meditation
2.do not multi task. no radio, music. no phone.
3.for the time that you set aside to drive, do just that
4. be aware of how it feels to sit in the seat , notice how your hands are on the wheel, look at your mirrors....almost like the first time that you got behind the wheel. Be aware of the experience of driving. What does the road look like. What cars are in front ,to the side, in the rear. What does the car, the traffic sound like. How does it make you feel? Where in your body do you feel it.
Whatever comes up in your moment to moment experience of driving, just make an observation.
5. when your mind wanders into memory, planning, fantasy.....gently return to observing the driving experience. This might happen often as the mind gets bored and wants something more interesting to to think about. How many times do we arrive somewhere where we really don't know how we actually got there.We put the driving on auto pilot and our mind went somewhere else.
6. When you arrive at your destination, see if there is a difference in how you can pay attention to other experiences that follow.

This can be done with so many activities..... cleaning, walking, washing, brushing teeth, eating, etc.
Try one or many. See what happens. Be open and gentle.