Become Comfortable with Stillness
It’s beautiful to feel the shifts and changes that come with the Fall season. In Ayurveda, it’s known that Fall represents more of the air element. The air moves the leaves on the tress that are changing colors. It starts to bring the cold and chill that is so common for where most of us live (but not all). A way to counter that cold and bustled feeling, is to find grounding during this time. When I think of grounding in my life, it is when I find and become comfortable with stillness. The theme that we’re going to look at this month is Becoming Comfortable with Stillness.
We’ll talk through:
What does stillness look and feel like?
How to find (recapture) that stillness?
What challenges the stillness we have?
So, let’s dive right in… what does stillness look and feel like in my body and my mind? When I think back to what really hooked me into going to yoga more and more constantly, it was savasana (corpse pose). I was so amazed that I could get into such a deep relaxed state as a result of using my body in these very pretzely contorted ways and liking my breath with movement… it was fascinating to me! Then I started to go to yoga just to get to the end for savasana. It’s like my nervous system couldn’t figure out how to be in that state without being on my mat. For me, savasana felt like my whole body got to hit the pause button, my mind went quiet, and I surrendered to that deep state of stillness. Slowly over time, and with many great teachers, I was able to figure out how to keep that state as I walked off the mat and into the world. But that was slow going for me. A great description of that state of stillness/silence is so beautifully stated:
“During the time you are practicing mindfulness, you stop talking- not only the talking outside, but the mental discourse that goes on and on and on… inside. Real silence is the cessation of talking of both the mouth and mind. This is not the kind of silence that oppresses us, it is a very elegant kind of silence, a very powerful kind of silence. It is the silence that heals and nourishes us” ~ Thích Nhất Hạnh
So stillness feels like complete surrender and release of the body AND mind. This is what we can work towards finding each day or in each moment we find ourselves stressed, anxious, or irritated.
“To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders” ~ Lao Tzu
This week week give yourself the opportunity to take more time in savasana or a seated meditation to notice what it feels like for you to find that stillness in the body and mind. You can do this after a strong yoga class or when do a body scan during your meditation. Just notice. See what comes up.
Tune in next week to continue our discussion and ask the question- “how to find (recapture) that stillness?”
With deep love and gratitude
