Meditating in public

[EvilAngel]

What do you guys think about this? I sometimes sit in a café on my own and just look about me, but it seems to make people uncomfortable. You stand out if you're on your own and not looking at your phone these days, and people sometimes look at you funny. I sometimes hear people calling me a weirdo or whatever. 

[Tistepiste]

I meditate on the train, or whenever I am alone really. I think you're overthinking it a little, who cares what other people think hha

[mandyjw]

If I'm in public I just people watch without judgement (that's the goal anyway lol) because I get a lot of insights and interesting interactions that way. I think it's just a valuable as meditation if you're really conscious about doing it. 

[iTommy]

I like to meditate outside in public, but also formally (meditation pose etc.) outside in a park near me. I notice at times that people talk about me, some even try to get a reaction out of me which can make it hard to concentrate on a meditation object. Last Sunday, I took 300ug of 1P-LSD and after a meditation session inside, I went outside and sat under a tree. My senses were pretty sharp and distorted in the sense that I could easily listen to conversations and sounds that I wouldn't normally be able to hear. The catch here was that I wasn't good at determining how near or far people were away from me at times.

On this particular day, there was a group of young people that seemed to love to get on people's nerves, being noisy & acting tough. Some of them tried to provoke me as well, and here I noticed my fight/flight response kicking in once they walked past me talking sh*t. In one way there was worry and fear that I observed, but another part of me was ready/waiting to "unleash the beast", within me, although on 300ug of psychedelics I probably would've picked the shortest straw. Needless to say, I was relieved when I went back inside. 

Overall I enjoy meditating outside/in public, I just would prefer to be around people that didn't make a scene and kept it relatively quiet, or to be the only human being within nature when doing a formal sitting. 

On the other hand, it can be a good practice... letting anxiety, fear, and judgments that you might project onto the viewpoints held by others, melt away and surrender into it all. This way you might discover some of your "weak spots". 

[Nahm]

@EvilAngel

There’s nobody there man. Do whatever. 

[Adam M]

While I was travelling Thailand I often had no choice but to do meditation in public areas...

 

I practice a type of vipassana that includes walking meditation and it looks very odd and many people would stare at me but honestly who cares lol...I just observe myself feeling afraid of being judged and then the feeling passes like everything else.

[Salvijus]

I did kriya with chanting and everything probably in every public place you could imagine. Even on the airplane