Stillness

When it comes to finding stillness, I am a work in progress! Is anyone else feeling like the month of October is flying by? Sometimes I wonder if it’s my age or simply the pace of life that causes me to lose track of time. Whatever it is, I am trying to slow down so that I can stay present and enjoy the moments.

One of the ways that I practice slowing down is saying no to more things “to do” and saying yes to rest. In other words, I am prioritizing stillness over activity.

What is stillness?

For me, stillness is a state of presence and peace. I think of it as being in a state of complete rest, meaning that I am consciously at rest physically, mentally and emotionally. With focused effort, you can find stillness within yourself at any time of day.

Essentially, when you are in stillness, your body is not moving, your mind is not active, and your energy is calm. In stillness, you can redirect energy from doing to digesting. The best part? When you are digesting, you are learning, processing, recovering, and helping to rebuild muscle tissue and memory.

In my experience, being in stillness is the greatest way for the mind and body to recover from stress.

So, how do we find stillness in a world that is so active? 

In my humble opinion, it is worth repeating that we need to prioritize stillness. This is not something that we are used to doing or that we learned to do as children. But, the world is a different place now. It is faster, busier, more congested and less healthy. So, it seems like a good time to update our learning with more information about the benefits of stillness.

As you know from my children’s book, an important part of my heart compass practice is to focus on being calm. In my personal exploration, I have discovered that forest walks and focused breathing help me to access a state of stillness and calm. Both practices activate my parasympathetic nervous system and help train my body to focus on responses that support relaxation over stress.

There are many ways to help yourself find stillness in your day. I encourage you to explore different tools and techniques to find one that resonates with you.

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This is the journey to presence and peace. Thank you for being here. Next time, we’ll explore rhythm on the path.

Let’s journey together.

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With love,