Stillness

Looking for Stillness in our Lives   The world runs at a frenetic pace, especially the online, constantly connected side of our lives. Constant notifications, texts, emails, social media updates. As we learn to live at this new speed it seems even more important to find a balance by being still.

Allowing your mind to be still takes practice. Allowing your body to truly rest takes practice. Not a lot of new skills or explanation required, just reminders and practice.

The New York Times recently offered a challenge to sit and look at a painting for ten minutes. Don’t do anything else, just look at the painting. What do you discover in the work? What do you see in the strokes? What captured my attention about this article was that it was adapted from an art history lesson where students are asked to study a single painting for three hours, which sounds incredibly hard, but compelling.

It feels like our attention spans have been shrinking with the size of our technology. The smaller our devices are, the more convenient they are to carry with us – the more we need them, the less opportunity we have to be distraction free. Constant interruption creates a fight or flight response in our nervous system, and how can we possibly ever relax?

I often find when I journal or draw, or during another focused activity that I pause for a moment and capture a bit of stillness, where the silence envelops me like a bubble. Every once in a while during the course of the day, I find myself mesmerized by the wind in the trees, or one of my pets being cute, and I slip into a pause of stillness as I watch, it is almost as if my energy knows I need this pause, and drops it on my like a gift.

I find these moments of peace frequently arrive on my busiest days, and welcome them, but as I strive for better balance, I have also started to practice just being still for a moment in my day.  It takes a bit of practice to allow myself into these moments and to absorb the stillness they offer me. 

These still moments in our day are like a breath of fresh air for our minds.
A simple practice for stillness   Sit quietly for a few moments with all your screens and sounds off.

Watch the raindrops fall outside the window, or the flames flicker by the fire. Sit still with yourself physically. Feet flat on the floor, hands gently resting on your legs.

Take five minutes, two minutes or one minute to sit gently. Start small, even if it isn’t long, its a start. 

Close your eyes or focus on the distance and just sit. Breathe and be still.

Sit still with your mind. When your mind wanders, bring it back quietly reminding yourself that you are still.

Breathe evenly.

It is a practice to be still for even a moment when you are used to constant stimulation.