I have been working to incorporate more stillness in my life. I have always appreciated the idea of stillness but I have hit up against a lot of internal resistance in the past when it comes to actually being still. But, now more than ever, my body has been telling me that I need to rest and be still. And I am listening. But change is hard. I have been so used to being in constant motion over the past 10+ years that it is hard to figure out how to slow down.
To understand how to slow down, I must first look at the movement in my life.
What I have found is that it is so much easier to keep moving. Things in motion stay in motion, right? Once I start moving, I don’t want to slow down for fear that I will lose all momentum. When I am in this constant state of motion, my mind goes from 0 to 60 the minute my feet hit the floor in the morning. I start listing the activities and tasks that I have to do. Forget meditating or rest, I have to get sh!t done! I fill my day to the brink with activities so can I make sure that I am being as productive as possible.
And productivity is great when it is moving you towards that which matters most in your life. But sometimes this need for productivity makes us spin our wheels. Shawn Blanc, in his free Elements of Focus Course, describes meaningful productivity as: “consistently giving our time and attention to the things that are most important.” That makes me step back and wonder where all this movement and activity is actually getting me. Is it moving me towards the things that are most important? Not always.
When I really look at how much I have been moving over my lifetime – how often I have felt “busy” without moving towards something important – I recognize how vital it is for me to incorporate more stillness in my life.
So, there is my reason for change, but how do I go about it?
My current approach is to start small and, over time, move towards larger shifts in my life. I have been trying to take breaks from work and my to-do lists to just exist in the moment. I make it a point to walk as much as possible between activities and really take the time to notice life happening around me – the colors of the trees, the feeling of the breeze, the faces of the people that pass by. I have incorporated more rest into my daily schedule even if it is just a few minutes between activities to regroup. And even more recently, I have been exploring the possibility of having a daily mediation practice, something I have been working towards, on and off, for a long time now.
In spending more time in stillness, I find that I am able to direct my energy to several things that are very meaningful to me, including: self-awareness, presence, and self-discovery. When I slow down, I become more aware of what is taking place around me as well as what is happening inside my mind, body, and heart. I start to make connections between situations and my mood. When I take a moment to get still and listen in, I am better able to choose how I want to react to a difficult or challenging situation. And, most of all, the more I am in stillness, the easier it is to settle back into it at any point in time. I just have to start somewhere… So here goes.