Last night after my walk on the beach I paused for a moment to sit in the sand. The sunset along the water’s edge was calling me to rest. I closed my eyes to take in the silence. I heard the water’s waves crashing, a runner race by, a biker peddling past, birds chirping, a helicopter buzzing, a boat purring and children laughing. As I captured my surroundings, I embraced what was present, as it was. I felt an overwhelming calm. My heart felt open. I felt grateful to be alive. I became one with nature around me. The sounds of nature were intoxicating.
Just minutes earlier though during my walk, my mind was racing. The day’s activities and my to-do list were spinning endlessly in my head. As soon as I sat down in the sand all the messiness began to fade away. But first, I needed to embrace the stillness.
In today’s fast-paced society, the majority of us are on information overload: exhausted, worn out, and depleted. We are tired. Our bodies are screaming for healthy, nutritious food and eight hours of uninterrupted sleep. We are running around non-stop, sometimes not even sure where we are going! We fill our days with ceaseless electronic communication (internet, TV, video games, cell phones, and movies) and constant driving to/from activities, including take-away meals. We go-go-go. We do-do-do. We put out fires all day long. The urgent tasks seem to scream at us, while the important tasks silently stand nearby waiting patiently. Radios and TVs are running constantly in the background of our life so we can’t hear ourselves. Physically and spiritually, many of us are depleted as emotions are building up inside of us ready to explode at the next passerby.
That describes my life only a few years ago. I was completely exhausted and continued to press myself beyond healthy parameters. As my body was running on empty, I was forced to be still. I encourage you to try it before you are forced! Stillness. Stare out the window at nature as long as you possibly can. Or better yet, go sit in the sand or a woods. Notice how you feel. What does it feel like? How long can you sit still without an agenda? Time moves slowly at first. Then, you embrace it. You crave the BEING. You look for ways to stop DOING all the time, so there is more time JUST to BE.
Without being still we stumble through the noise. Without being still we take guesses at where we should be next. Without being still, we don’t honor ourselves or our true calling.
It wasn’t always easy for me to embrace stillness. As soon as I slowed down, my mind chatter would take over and send me on a mental rant. Next, unprocessed emotions I had pushed down started to surface. It was in this quiet awareness, I realized the power of stillness. It truly is a gift.
Awareness of our mind chatter is the first present we get to open when we are still. This constant chatting and often nonstop babble is always going to be there. You get to choose, though, what you listen to. Mind chatter can be relentless and just about drive you nuts until you’re able to recognize it for what it is… just chatter. The official definition of chatter is purposeless or foolish talk. That’s exactly what goes on in most of our heads daily. Foolish talk. No purpose to it!
You can expect as you embrace stillness that you’ll begin to hear your mind chatter even more loudly. Allow this to be. Hear what you’re saying to yourself. Is is uplifting? Demeaning? Would you talk to your best friend like you talk to yourself? Notice. Become aware of what you are saying. Ask yourselves these three questions:
1) Is it true?
2) How does this thought make me feel?
3) What would things be like if I didn’t hold this belief?
Secondly, as you embrace the stillness, you will experience the power and gift of feeling your pent-up emotions. This may not sound like a ton a fun, and sometimes, it’s not, but the reward is on the other side of feeling them.
Emotions are like a river. They should flow freely through your psyche. If your emotions are blocking up the dam, so to speak, they can’t move freely and can cause issues. Too many stuck emotions makes the river muddy not allowing us to see what’s holding us back.
Often we numb ourselves so we don’t have to feel. We overwork, over schedule, overeat, even over exercise. Our lives become unbalanced when we are not processing our emotions on a regular basis. Being in touch with our own emotions and feelings allows us to be authentically ourselves.
My own power of stillness are quiet mornings with a cup of coffee, enjoying
nature. It’s my time to regroup and just BE. No hurry. Lately, it’s also included enjoying a sunset in the evening while offering gratitude. These simple, yet deliberate acts of stillness have become a daily ritual I relish. I can’t explain it, but in the stillness:
- I am present.
- I enjoy each moment at a deeper level.
- I refocus negative mind chatter.
- I feel feelings and release pent up frustrations.
- I reconnect to the God spark inside of myself.
- I trust and honor myself.
- I know that I am ENOUGH just as I am.
- I feel centered and energized to fulfill my soul’s purpose.
If you’re curious how to experience the power of stillness, here are 5 ways to get started immediately:
1) Set aside time each day to shut off the technology and just be.
2) Notice your thoughts that stream in and out of your consciousness. No judgement, just awareness.
3) What feelings are bubbling up for you? Name them. What do you see? Describe them.
4) As you sit in silence, are you able to hear the voice inside? What is your soul saying to you?
5) Write in your journal what’s coming up for you.
After you welcome stillness into your life, you too will begin to gradually experience moments of bliss, overcome with thankfulness, appreciation and love.
Mother Teresa described this quietness well saying, “I’m a little pencil in the hand of a writing God, who is sending a love letter to the world. God cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature — trees, flowers, grass — grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence… We need silence to be able to touch the soul.”
In silence, our souls are not only touched but allowed to shine brightly. The muck of our mind chatter and stuck emotions come up for review and clearing so our soul can go from a flicker of a flame to a spark on fire. To do this though, we need to embrace the power of stillness. We need to know that even in the uncomfortableness of the mind chatter and emotions we are noticing, this is a tremendous gift we give ourselves.
