A Practice of Stillness
We made eye contact for only a moment. She was graceful and beautiful. She looked as surprised as I felt. I stopped in my tracks and paused. Sweat rolled down my face but I hesitated to move anything. I didn’t want to startle her. I wanted this moment, with our eyes locked on one another, both waiting, pausing between two worlds that continually intertwine, to last just a moment longer. Not speaking the same language, I felt and soaked in her presence with my whole soul. I see you. I honor your presence. Her eyes glistened and in an instant, she turned and was gone. As quietly as she arrived, she leapt over the nearest bush and was in-between the forest of trees. I inhaled, brushed the sweat from my brow and kept moving forward.
It wasn’t until I was circling back from my morning run, pondering this quiet connection between myself and the deer, that I realized something.
Neither of us were actually waiting in the moment. We were embracing stillness. Not the kind of stillness that requires a quiet room, or a getaway retreat on a beautiful beach, but the kind of stillness that can be created in the smallest of moments.
How can we create pockets of stillness in everyday life?
As I’ve experimented with this concept, I’ve found patterns. Waiting feels sticky and closed, like we are in-between doing one thing and the next, full of many unintentional emotions – impatience, irritation, urgency, worry, boredom, anxiety, discomfort. Often I felt a need to “do” something – grab my phone was the most common choice – almost unconsciously jumping to check email. No urgent need to check it, other than an opportunity to “fill time.” None of these emotions or actions are problems, but interesting they all can flow when in the mindset of waiting.
In contrast, stillness feels open, rooted in being. Stillness invites taking up space right where we are, finds purpose in the present moment no matter how small, quiet inside regardless of what is happening outside.
Stillness is centered on BEing. Waiting is centered on DOing. Finding pockets of stillness is like opening ourselves to who we truly are – human “be”-ings not human “do”-ings.
This month, I invite you to create pockets of stillness. Think about when you are typically waiting in everyday life, and then choose one where you will practice stillness.
Four ways to practice stillness in ordinary ways:
- NOTICE AND BREATHE: Notice you’re in a waiting mindset. Breathe into it – inhale for 4 and exhale for 6 to begin resetting your nervous system.
- LOOK. What is happening in the present moment around you? Get out of your head and into your body. What one word emotion do you feel? Where is it in your body? What do you hear? Smell? See?
- LISTEN. Get quiet inside and listen.
- ASK. Ask yourself intentional questions. “What’s going on?” “What’s this all about?” “What can I learn in this moment?” “What do I need in this moment?” “Who needs my help?”
What will a practice of stillness create for you this month?
