It’s that time of year again where having a sense of stillness inside will do wonders for your stress levels.
Stillness is the natural antidote for stress any time of year, but as we’ve just entered December and the holiday season is just around the corner, this is a friendly reminder for you to remember stillness.
Because that stillness you’ve been cultivating in your meditation practice has practical application… And as one of my teachers would say: “It’s not that you can’t do it, it’s that you don’t remember to even try.”
Stillness offers you peace and stability in a crowd of busy people. Chaos and madness can be happening around you, while you remain calm and clear.
But if you don’t remember to feel stillness in the moment when you’re immersed in the crowds, then the energy of the crowds will have their way with you… and you’ll likely feel anxious, agitated, overwhelmed or frustrated.
Stillness offers you a choice… The catch – you have to remember to choose it.
You have to know it to choose it
Now, keep in mind, you wouldn’t turn up to a tennis competition having never played the game before and then expect to play well, or even win a single point.
In the same way, if you’ve never meditated before and cultivated the ability to feel stillness, then don’t expect it to work so well when you’re immersed in the chaos of crowds.
The ability to quiet your mind enough to feel stillness is a skill.
It’s a muscle. And like any other muscle, it can be trained!
The more you strengthen the muscle the more available it is for you.
Because in reality, stillness is always there for you, in the background of your awareness, it’s only that your mind is usually too busy to notice it.
Building your relationship to stillness
I think of meditation as strengthening your personal relationship to stillness. For me it’s become like an intimate relationship between my heart and stillness… and I know it’s always near by.
It’s not that different to a relationship with someone you deeply care about. The act of remembering this person triggers feelings inside you, such as love, joy or warmth.
The remembering helps you connect to the feelings, and it’s the feeling (not the thinking) which in turn can shift your state of mind from anxiety or sadness to love and warmth.
It’s not the idea of stillness that supports and holds you, it’s when you actually experience it inside yourself that it makes you feel calm and centred… And this comes from practice.
Take time to meditate!
This time when you nurture the intimate relationship between your heart and stillness is extremely precious.
So, when you’re surrounded by a crowd of intense Christmas shoppers, instead of letting your mind and energy be permeated by their chaos, remember stillness.
By remembering it, I mean feel it! This will help you navigate the madness, grounded in a sense of calm, clarity and with peace in your heart.
The choice is yours.
Stillness is your superpower!
I invite you to access my Free Online Meditation Course. This is an intro to meditation and the Peacekeeper Project’s Heart Space Meditation.
Or please sign up for my next free Live Online Global Meditation and join us as we connect in stillness with others around the world.
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