In a world that has a heartbeat which seems to pulse as fast as a New York minute, learning to temper its pace is more important than ever. In fact, it’s vital for sustainability. Many of us regularly look for ways to calm our mind or to simply “slow down”. We turn to friends, family and the internet for answers – hoping to find the secret to achieving some quiet time to break-up a seemingly endless manic pace. However, our pursuit for solutions only drives us further – and ironically, the one thing we rarely do, is turn inward to ourselves to find the answer. Age old wisdom tells us to take pause when we need to find clarity. Generations of philosophers, healers and leaders have time and again shown us the power of taking a deep breath, sitting with our thoughts, and turning inwards to ourselves for the most powerful insight of all. Yet, our natural reaction always seems to be reaching away from ourselves for the answers that only we can provide.
Cultivating a practice of stillness – for any length of time – ranging from one minute to hours is just that – a practice. Meaning it requires discipline and repetition over an extended period of time. It’s just like any skill you have – in order to take it from good to great, practice is required. Below are a few simple steps to help you create your own practice of stillness.
- Choose a time frame every day that you will dedicate to meditation aka your time in stillness. If you can do your meditation right after waking up that is ideal.
- Create a calm, quiet place in your home to meditate where you will not be interrupted.
- When you go to meditate, make sure your phone is on silent. If you feel you need to set your timer, be sure that it is a soft sound otherwise it may startle you.
- Sit in an easy comfortable position, close your eyes, and simply breathe. Deepen each breath with every inhale. Let stress, anxiety and fear go with every exhale.
- Repeat this for 20 minutes allowing your thoughts to come and go and your mind to settle. It will seem noisy in your mind at first, but over time your thoughts will seem more like a soft song and less like a rock concert rolling loudly around in your mind.
As you begin to cultivate your time in stillness you will gain the clarity you seek for better decision making. You’ll also find yourself to be less emotionally reactive, and you’ll learn to trust a very important person – yourself. It is important to remember that you are worth holding space for. There are so many distractions that encroach on our day to day lives that we need to make sure we are not engulfed, but rather empowered, by making sure we are fiercely protecting our individual space.
