Make it a mindful coffee

By Street Wisdom
28.07.22

Street Wisdom is all about taking time out to slow down, wander the streets, and see the beauty all around you.

One very easy way to bring some Street Wisdom into your everyday is to add some mindfulness to your morning coffee run. In fact, let’s make it a morning coffee wander.

Here are some ways of doing this:

  1. So, you’ve decided to go and grab a coffee? Between tying your shoelaces and opening the door, take a moment to breathe a bit more slowly than before. It all helps.
  2. If you intend to take-away your coffee, take a reusable cup with you: Commit to the planet, know you will enjoy the coffee more by not wasting any excess plastic or other materials.
  3. As you wander to your favourite coffee shop, notice the streets around you, feel the earth beneath your feet, be curious about the people you’re alive with. Can you notice your breathing again?
  4. You intended to go to one coffee shop – your favourite! – ah, but for some reason, you go a different way and come across a new one. Go for it. Be drawn to what attracts you.
  5. When you ask for your coffee, ask how the person making it for you is doing. Be genuinely curious, look them in the eye, make it clear you’re interested in their reply.
  6. Will you sip your coffee seated, or carry on wandering with it? If seated, enjoy, relax, no pressure, take your time. If you’re moving on, then holding a hot drink like coffee is a great way to slow you down.

What have we missed? How do you bring a bit of mindfulness into your morning coffee? And perhaps there’s even a bigger social mission here? As David Pearl, Founder of Street Wisdom, writes in his latest book, Wanderful:

Shopping of any sort is a great opportunity to synchronise. You could argue that it is its social function – an excuse to interact with other humans. Go to any street market or souk and you’ll see the actual purchasing takes a fraction of the time that’s spent in amiable chat and pleasantries, testing (tasting, prodding) the produce and/or haggling over the price. One of the reasons that High Streets around the world are becoming less vibrant is the fact we don’t have – or more likely don’t give ourselves – time to slow down and interact with the shopkeepers. It’s all about speed, with optimised queuing and automated, self-scan, robotised checkouts designed to get us in and out of the shop as fast as possible.

Enjoy your new mindful coffee… routine? Well, if it’s mindful, it will be new each time!

 

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Inspired? Street Wisdom is all about finding better ways. Join a Walkshop near you, or head out for your own wander right now with our Tune Ups. Buy your own copy of Wanderful, all profits go back into Street Wisdom to help keep it free.