In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you. -~- Deepak Chopra

It’s a bias of our culture that stillness is regarded as lazy, as being stuck in inaction, as a negative.

It’s not. It’s an action, and a powerful one.

What’s more, it can change your day, and in doing so change your life.

You’re in the middle of a frazzled day, swamped by work and meetings and emails and interruptions, or hassled by kids and phone calls and errands and chores.

You pause. Stay still for a minute, and breathe. You close your eyes, and find a stillness within yourself. This stillness spreads to the rest of your body, and to your mind. It calms you, centers you, focuses you on what you’re doing right now, not on all you have to do and all that has happened.

The stillness becomes a transformative action.

Stillness can be a powerful answer to the noise of others. It can be a way to push back against the buzz of the world, to take control. It can remind you of what’s important.

source riot jane

How to Practice
Stillness, oddly, doesn’t come naturally to many people. So practice.

1. Start your day in stillness. Whether it’s sitting with a cup of coffee as the world awakes, or sitting on a pillow and focusing on your breath, stillness is a powerful way to start your day. It sets the tone for things to come. Even 5-10 minutes is great.

2. Take regular stillness breaks. Every hour, set an alarm on your computer or phone to go off. Think of it as a bell that rings, reminding you to be still for a minute. During this minute, focus first on your breathing, to bring yourself into the present. Let the worries of the world around you melt away — all that is left is your breath. And then let your focus expand beyond your breath to your other senses, one at a time.

3. When chaos roars, pause. In the middle of a crisis or a noisy day, stop. Be still. Take a deep breath, and focus on that breath coming in, and going out. Find your inner stillness and then let your next action come from that stillness. Focus on that next action only.

Let stillness become your most powerful action. It could change your life.

  My  Stillness  Journey:: I was watching Oprah Sunday evening as she discussed some of her own life lessons with Facebook CEO and a small audience. She answered several questions and chatted it up about her journey. For whatever reason, when she spoke about stillness and finding that quiet time with yourself and God, the hairs on my arms stood at attention and I really listened. She explained that until you shut things around you down and get quiet that you will never really hear the voice of God and hear those little whispers that guide us. I took away a lot from that show and immediately started thinking of ways to begin a journey to add stillness into my life. I set aside quiet time on my calendar for 10 minutes twice a day. I’ve not heard the AHHHHHH HAAAAA’s yet but the peace that comes from it, the peace that makes it easier to deal with things that normally would distract me from my goals, they aren’t as loud.  

As fate would have it, I was skimming through blogs last evening and stumbled upon the post you just read by Leo Babauta. Isn’t it amazing how God puts things in front of us to continue us in the right way? Do you take time to be still? If not, will you?

“Through return to simple living comes control of desires. In control of desires Stillness is attained. In stillness the world is restored.” ~ Lao Tzu

When you don’t know what to do, get still. The answer will come. ~ Oprah

Starting today, take some time to be still. It’s  part of the journey. Enjoy it! ~ Kristi