Tweet
The Tao of Driving.
Well the last time I wrote the article "Confessions of a Biker" some xbhpians complained that they didn't get what I wanted to convey. My sincere apologies to the respected brethren. This time I want to delve more on biking and awareness- The mind and its relation to the way we drive.
The human mind is broadly classified into 2 states- The Conscious and The Unconscious/Sub-Conscious.We are at the most using just 5-10 percent of our capacity of the mind. The rest remains unused - This unused is collectively known as the Sub-Conscious mind. By the faculty of our Conscious minds we do carry out our day to day activities.Our success in carrying out any task to perfection depends on how well we use the untapped potential of our own sub-conscious mind. The good news is Driving can be used as a device to improve the functioning of our sub-conscious mind and attain a healthy balance.
A little rewind over here.
Just note the many things you do in the day- regular activities like getting up from the bed,brushing teeth ,combing the hair - you will realize that all these have become robotic- accustomed habits - A pattern we are thinking something and doing something else.When we learned how to drive a motorcycle we did put effort at the moments of learning and during the period of learning the awareness levels were higher- This being due to the difficulty of the learning process we have to be constantly aware and focused .But as soon as we manage to drive satisfactorily we stop learning and when we stop learning whatever we have learned becomes a rigid ,robotic habit.This is the automaton part of us- A Habit/Pattern.I do understand that we are not like Rossi with superhuman reflexes but we can be much better than what we are currently - with a little patience and awareness.
The next time when you are riding your bike try to be aware of every movement you make, and do some introspection based upon your observations - you will come to know many things which were unknown before. An example would be when you are performing a different task while driving.It creates a split awareness of your being.This split awareness is what results in mishaps.When the totality of the awareness if focused on one task - the chances of accident are really negligible.The point over here is how do we increase our awareness ?
Some pointers to start with. You can add your own suggestions and pointers of which we can be aware of.
1.How do you start the bike ?
2.Shift gears.
3.Take turns.
4.Braking habits.
5.Reaction to the traffic and tolerance level.
6.Sudden REACTIONS.(Try to make note of how you react in emergency situations)
7.Control over emotions and sudden urges to race.
8.What things do you usually ignore while driving and considering them to be insignificant ?
This thread is meant to discuss ,share and improve our driving skills thus realizing the mind's hidden potential and to do that being aware is one of the best tools.It will also make you more aware of the inputs the bike is giving to you in various ways.
It's a great pleasure to practice biking with awareness as you will come to know.It does increase the satisfaction of the driving experience and reduces the risk of mishaps.
The human mind is broadly classified into 2 states- The Conscious and The Unconscious/Sub-Conscious.We are at the most using just 5-10 percent of our capacity of the mind. The rest remains unused - This unused is collectively known as the Sub-Conscious mind. By the faculty of our Conscious minds we do carry out our day to day activities.Our success in carrying out any task to perfection depends on how well we use the untapped potential of our own sub-conscious mind. The good news is Driving can be used as a device to improve the functioning of our sub-conscious mind and attain a healthy balance.
A little rewind over here.
Just note the many things you do in the day- regular activities like getting up from the bed,brushing teeth ,combing the hair - you will realize that all these have become robotic- accustomed habits - A pattern we are thinking something and doing something else.When we learned how to drive a motorcycle we did put effort at the moments of learning and during the period of learning the awareness levels were higher- This being due to the difficulty of the learning process we have to be constantly aware and focused .But as soon as we manage to drive satisfactorily we stop learning and when we stop learning whatever we have learned becomes a rigid ,robotic habit.This is the automaton part of us- A Habit/Pattern.I do understand that we are not like Rossi with superhuman reflexes but we can be much better than what we are currently - with a little patience and awareness.
The next time when you are riding your bike try to be aware of every movement you make, and do some introspection based upon your observations - you will come to know many things which were unknown before. An example would be when you are performing a different task while driving.It creates a split awareness of your being.This split awareness is what results in mishaps.When the totality of the awareness if focused on one task - the chances of accident are really negligible.The point over here is how do we increase our awareness ?
Some pointers to start with. You can add your own suggestions and pointers of which we can be aware of.
1.How do you start the bike ?
2.Shift gears.
3.Take turns.
4.Braking habits.
5.Reaction to the traffic and tolerance level.
6.Sudden REACTIONS.(Try to make note of how you react in emergency situations)
7.Control over emotions and sudden urges to race.
8.What things do you usually ignore while driving and considering them to be insignificant ?
This thread is meant to discuss ,share and improve our driving skills thus realizing the mind's hidden potential and to do that being aware is one of the best tools.It will also make you more aware of the inputs the bike is giving to you in various ways.
It's a great pleasure to practice biking with awareness as you will come to know.It does increase the satisfaction of the driving experience and reduces the risk of mishaps.
). Doing a 40kmph in a 70kmph traffic condition for example. Or riding through the same route. My solution-> Ride faster
Seriously, atleast thats been my experience. I would look at a girl trying to cross the road 
Comment