One of the greatest gifts of my lifestyle is stillness – I have realized it is the ultimate teacher. After coming out of weeks of being intensely busy with many irons in the fire and lots of stress, I couldn’t wait for the weekend and stillness.
I’ve been working on a grant, organizing and attending many meetings, planning events for next fall, dealing with family issues, while doing all the usual stuff. I’ve been tense, but now I’m ready for some calm. That’s when it came to me, the best way to obtain it is by getting still – very still.
Here are some thoughts on what I think are the virtues of stillness. See what you think.
STILLNESS IS THE PRECURSOR TO MINDFULNESS
In the last decade, mindfulness has become a concept that people are finally embracing. It’s the foundation for innovation in health, therapy and meditation. Its benefits are touted in many arenas including hospitals, schools and prisons.
It’s basic tenant, that you be present in the moment, requires learning to be still. It’s not possible to be present without disconnecting yourself from all your distractions and business.
To be in the moment requires being internally still.
IT HELPS YOU GET QUIET AND NOTICE
Stillness, I think, also means detaching yourself from all devices. No phone, iPad, computer, TV, or music – just quiet. I know there are people who use guided meditations, background music and white noise with rain or forest sounds to relax. It all has its place. But can we just get some quiet?
To me quiet is the missing piece. It’s what really helps me tune into stillness and notice. When you give yourself that chance, what do you observe? I love watching the movement of trees in the wind, the changing patterns of light and shadow, the infinite textual details and variations of color in the natural world. It helps me get grounded – it helps me connect to the divinity of life.
Stillness is how we ultimately get quiet, ground and connect to something greater than ourselves.
IT HELPS YOU THINK
Stillness isn’t just a passive process, though that has its place. It’s also the vehicle we need to think more clearly. When you unplug and allow yourself to just be, you give yourself space to think.
Most of us are juggling a wide range of different responsibilities. We are faced with complex problems, with only limited time to solve them. With stillness, you’re able to concentrate and focus on solutions, figuring things out in creative ways you hadn’t considered.
Get quiet and let your intellect shine.
IT CONNECTS YOU TO YOUR TRUTH
Everything I’ve said is leading up to my favorite aspect of stillness. I’ve found that stillness is the most important vehicle for connecting to your internal wisdom. This is how you find your truth and your identity as a soul.
In stillness, you hear the quiet internal voice that registers your true thoughts and feelings. It’s how you get real, its how to get to the heart of who you want to be, what you want to do, and how you want to live in the world. It is what connects you to who we are in our body with who we are as a soul. To me, there is nothing more important.
Stillness helps you connect your mind and your soul together, so you live with internal and external congruence.
Stillness, I believe, is an essential, overlooked and necessary component to life that teaches many valuable lessons. It is through stillness that we have the necessary starting platform for mindfulness, which focuses on being present in the moment. It gives us the external and internal quiet that we need to notice our every day world and all it’s miracles. It provides the quiet we need to think, and problem solve. And most of all, it aligns our mind and sense of who we are in our body with who we are as a soul. It is the path to better self awareness.
Have you noticed the benefits of stillness for yourself? Or is it something you’d like to enhance in your life? My Transformational Life Coaching and Counseling provides the support and direction to develop the mindset and skills to bring all this to you. For more information, see my website www.spectrumtransformation.com and use the Free Consultation button to reach me. I would love to hear from you.
