A Year to clear what is holding you back by Stephanie Bennett Vogt
It is all about slowing down, taking time for yourself and establishing new habits that will last a lifetime.
Theme – Cultivating Stillness
The focus this week was building new habits of quiet ease - one minute at a time.
What is one practice you can truly integrate into your life for a week or ten days that would feel really good?
- Rest in beauty: Look up from your screen and place your attention on something beautiful and allow your mind to rest in that.
Day 3 I have decided that rather than just slurp my coffee while I am writing I will stop and gaze out of the window at the ocean. It is raining, but not in the direction so it hits the window, which means that I can have them open. It is still warm and there is no wind. It is high-tide and it is making a right racket about lashing the coastline. Not many white horses out to sea but loads of foam as the breakers hit the sand. The green between the house and the beach has been freshly cut yesterday leaving distinct wavy lines which mirror the contours of the meandering path. Huge boats are just visible in the mist on the horizon. As there is no wind to carry it there is no briny aroma filling the study as normal.
How easy (or hard) is it to practice cultivating (step into) stillness?
I practice meditation periodically throughout the day normally so adding this to my day has not been hard at all. I am not one for having a lot of noise around me. I like to write in undisturbed silence and even when listening to music it is generally through headphones and on a very low setting.
Are you finding that your one minute is growing into more minutes? If not, perhaps the mind is still not ready to dial it down as much as you'd like. Try again with one practice that does not elicit a resisting response.
To be honest I could sit and stare out to sea all day, but that is not a feasible option. I do find myself spending quite a bit of time in that pursuit though. I find it exhilarating and peaceful all at the same time. Now my desk faces the window it is not hard to get lost in the view.
So, what do I think of this week’s practices … not that much really as they are something that I have always done. Maybe if I had chosen a different option it might have been different but none of the others really appealed to me.
ONE-MINUTE PRACTICES IN CULTIVATING QUIET STILLNESS:
- Rest in beauty: Look up from your screen and place your attention on something beautiful and allow your mind to rest in that.
- Take your time: Deliberately slow down for one minute when your impulse is to speed up (and allow yourself to squirm).
- Insert awareness: Release tension by observing it. See if tightness eases by being a witnessing presence.
- Be curious: Pretend you know nothing; invite wonder; accept mystery as a legitimate state of being.
- Wait and watch: Allow an answer to reveal itself through one of your senses. Don't force or overthink it.
- Do nothing: Allow things to be just as they are without doing anything to fix or change anything.
- Don't personalize (since it's rarely about you): Pretend that everything that does not feel good is not yours. Repeat "It's not mine."
- Breathe and release: Breathe deeply from your chest down to your belly through the soles of your feet and into the Earth.
- Wash and release: Use the simple practice of washing your hands (body, dishes) for one minute to quiet your mind and release stress.
- Sit in silence: Sit quietly for one minute with no agenda.
This has been an interesting week which I have enjoyed exploring.
It resonates with my desires for a holistic approach to wellbeing and the cultivation of calming my lifestyle and my mind.