I carried for years a belief if I was not actively engaged in doing, and being busy at something… That I was unproductive and therefore not being useful. Carrying this further ,if I was not useful in society, I was not of service, and therefore not worth or of value of much of anything. I always had to have noise Induced such as TV, music, radio, anything to stop me from hearing the thoughts coming from my head. Silence was my enemy.
I begin meditating 35 years ago and have practiced yoga since I was a teenager. Of course I was quiet and still during those practices. Yet I still was not
embracing stillness in most areas of my life. Looking back , I was always thinking; my mind had to be actively engaged because (here came another belief) if I could figure out whatever or whomever was creating a conflict for me by using my great mind,I could find calmness and serenity. It never really gave me a successful solution though I kept doing the same pattern expecting a different result!
Maybe it was my Aries ascendant that insisted on my being in constant motion because when not engaged in my slowing down spiritual practices I was a person in busyness and active movement constantly.
During the current “forced stillness” of the world’s social distancing quarantines imposed upon all of us, I became most grateful that I have embraced stillness as a channel of peace.
I cannot remember when I surrendered my need to be a workaholic and a busyaholic yet surrender was what I did. I have a feeling stillness was something I had searched for most of my life but did not know how to find it or even that I wanted it!
In my partnership with stillness gifts have come. It has brought me balance and showed me how to be present in the moment. I have been able to hear my inner thoughts more clearly and as a result, have gotten in touch with both authentic and false beliefs that work and those that do not. I have entered into a personal relationship with the person I really am, and opened to the Divine Higher Self who lives within me. Before I knew stillness it was pretty much impossible to hear my inner messages coming from the wise being who dwells within. The practice of stillness has empowered me to be more creative, to be more focused and present in all my relationships, and to detach with love and compassion from the chaos and drama of the people and world around me.
If you think you may want to look for stillness in your own life you might try these things:
– Unplug from your phone and computer for a certain amount of time each day
– Take yourself on nature walks in silence
– Choose to stop watching the news which most of the time adds unwanted feelings of anxiety
– Declutter and get rid of the stuff taking up space in your home. When you are surrounded with stuff you have really no use for you have actually created an environment to get you more defocused, distracted and stressed mentally.
– Sit by yourself in solitude in a room for one minute a day and keep practicing until it is up to 10 minutes daily. Pay attention to the thoughts that come up. This exploration of mental adventure can begin to help you perceive new ideas as creativity has an incredible outlet plugged into a new channel .
S-h-h-h! Listen – – did you hear that? It was stillness being awakened within and for you.
Jaguarwind 