And yet, with all the necessity of paying perfect attention to what I'm doing, or maybe because of that, my thoughts still flow, in a more coherent way than they have in a while.

My mind is also able to roam backwards and forwards over my life, past, present, and future.

I think of my kids and what will happen to them.

I remember a hundred moments from our lives together,

a life which either has profoundly

changed or perhaps even ended. I think of being alone. In this moment, gloriously, completely

alone. My mind protected by a fullface helmet enclosing myself with myself.

And how long this solitude will last, and how long I might want it to.

Have you ever been on a motorbike?

The freedom, the space, being so connected to both machine and nature at the same time.

Peter Sagle is a long-time biker and host of NPR's Wait Wait Don't Tell Me.

Today, he shares a meditative story about a trip through the American Midwest, which

gave him the space that he needed, inside and out, to navigate a difficult time in his life.

In this series, we blend immersive first-person stories with mindfulness prompts to help you

restore yourself at any time of the day.

I'm Rohan, and I'll be your guide on this episode of Meditative Story.

From time to time, we'll pause the story ever so briefly for me to come in with guidance for a deeper connection to the story.

The body relaxed. the body breathing.

Your senses open, your mind open, meeting the world. It is the summer of 2013.

My marriage has recently broken up,

and my hopes for an amicable, non-confrontational,

and inexpensive split have been dashed,

...