You're stuck in a traffic jam, caught in a crowded train, trapped in an endless queue, or squeezed into a bus; you seem captive to space and there is nothing you can do about it. It starts where you are, because obviously you can't be anywhere else. You wish, but it is impossible. The more you try to escape the discomfort that is yours (lateness, fear of missing an appointment, temperature, unwanted contact), the more you try to act as if you were not there, the more the suffering increases and amplifies. You want to curse. A trifle would be enough for you to lose your temper. The attempts to fuite all lead to even greater irritation. So you have to come back to where you are, be there fully and it starts with the body. Your body is what you are.
To live is to realize that you are a breath
Start by living what is given to you: yourself. Your breathing, because to live is to become aware that you are a breath, not just that a breath rises within you, you become one with your ribs, your chest, your bronchi, fully inhabit the breath. Become these nostrils that let in a trickle of air and this trickle of air, accompany it to the end, at the end of the trickle of air when it has filled you, stay a few seconds, two or three, savor the calm , then release the air without haste or haste. Let your gaze soften and the tension in your shoulders, hands, and neck come undone, be aware of this and don't try to fix or release anything. Smile at your situation and all this tension that until then inflamed your body.
Learn not to judge yourself or the situation in which you find yourself.
You can even see how comical and comical this situation is, instead of making a big deal out of it, connect with your sense of humor, not the aggressive humor that we usually direct at others in order to settle scores unacknowledged, no, a humor that cultivates self-mockery and allows us to be lighter. Laugh at your irritation. Enjoy your annoyance. And, little by little, the hostility of the city and your environment will give way to a great calm, a serenity. You realize that there is a lot of space in your life, and that space is you.
For example, things are not moving forward, the traffic jam is hard or the train is not moving forward, and take advantage of this break to relax. Because nothing will help, complaining will only make your situation worse. Relax. Yes, you're going to miss this appointment or be late, so what? Accept to be where you are, to be a stopped body, but open and breathing. In fact, you will begin to feel a form of freedom, but this freedom no longer depends on external conditions, it can be experienced and explored in moments that are too eagerly labeled as unpleasant. Learn not to judge yourself or the situation you find yourself in.