“Silence is a source of great strength.”
~Lao Tzu
When in doubt, let stillness permeate your life. Stop…breathe…rest…wait. Be still.
There is no need to rush into things, no need to always know the answer.
When we speed through our lives, overlapping one thing with another, we lose sight of ourselves. We are alienated from reality. We live in our heads – in our thoughts and pictures of what things should be like. And we forge ahead with the power of a tsunami.
But what if you were to stop? Stop thinking, stop doing, stop analyzing, stop the endless loop of stories in your mind.
What would you discover? Here are some possibilities:
- Feelings you have been running from
- Clarity about a situation in your life that you have been unwilling to admit to
- The need to rest and take care of your body
- A spark of creativity
- Enjoyment, wonder, peace
- Something completely unexpected
Stillness is a healing balm. It brings space and wisdom and sanity to our lives.
In stillness,
- we don’t need to know
- we allow things to be as they are
- we realize that life continues perfectly without thinking about it
- we recognize the opportunity for deep relaxation
Stillness returns our attention to the present. We go from living in our thoughts about the past and the future to the glory of now. We are authentic, real, available, accepting. We stop strategizing and open to the reality of our actual experience.
We see the pain and futility of hiding, pretending, avoiding.
How to Be Still
The how-to is simple. Just be still.
Why not try it right now? Draw your attention away from you mind, and explore the reality of this moment. Notice seeing, hearing, touching. Take in the sensations in your body – every tension, every vibration. Make space for your feelings.
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Then let go of all the noticing, and just be still. Allow the quiet to pervade your experience – more and more deeply.
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Even if this moment is unpleasant in some way, maybe you will recognize that you are alive to it. By being still, you wake up to your life, your experience, the reality of you. It’s refreshing to be still. We put down all the effort, all the trying, and simply relax.
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Now go the next step. Instead of resurrecting your usual way of being, let your actions emerge from this stillness. See how everything you do can come naturally, without even thinking about it. Your life unfolds, and at the source of all your experience is stillness. Vast, empty, you.
When in doubt, let stillness permeate your life. Stop…breathe…rest…wait. Be still.
Love,
