The Importance of Practicing Stillness and How to Do it
5 Things You Will Gain When You Practice Silence Regularly
With many people living busy and chaotic lives, practicing stillness regularly will help navigate through life’s daily pressures.
Stillness is hard to come by because we strive to meet our obligations and get things done, which means we’re constantly active.
Allowing ourselves to slow down and be still is challenging, especially for highly driven people.
1-Minute Summary Video
What Does Practicing Stillness Involve?
Stillness involves doing nothing. That could be a foreign concept for some people who find it hard to do nothing.
Practicing stillness is best obtained through silence and just simply being, however, that does not always have to be the case. A person can practice stillness in a crowded environment or in an unpleasant situation.
Practicing stillness is not:
- Problem-solving time.
- A time to plan, strategise, or journal something.
- Catching up on sleep or other activities.
It’s about slowing down, reducing mental activity, and just being present to whatever wants to emerge.
The Importance of Practicing Stillness
Practicing stillness will:
- Give us the opportunity to self-reflect and gain a higher level of self-awareness.
- Help us connect to our intuition and our higher self.
- Make us notice the emotions we’re experiencing.
- Help reduce mental clutter.
- Allow us to be more present and grounded.
- Increase our appreciation of life.
- Recharge our spirit.
- Help relax our bodies.
Learning to practice stillness will also lead to better mental hygiene and overall wellness.
How to Practice Stillness
The main thing when practicing stillness is to do nothing. While there are different ways to practice stillness, do what works for you based on your priorities and situation in life.
Here are five ideas to consider when practicing stillness, so you can get the most out of the experience while increasing your self-awareness.
- Schedule time to make it a regular practice. Quiet time needs to be scheduled for it to become a discipline. When starting out, using a timer can also help. Consider this practice as mental exercise, which needs repetition to get stronger.
- Let go of any preconceived ideas about how the experience should be. There isn’t a right or wrong practice. Having an expectation to get it right or do it the right way will put pressure on you, which will make it a lot harder to relax and be present. Accept every experience will be different.
- Allow yourself to relax, sit quietly, and reflect. When you schedule time for stillness, also choose a place where you will do it. Familiarity will help you get into a relaxed state a lot easier. Your intention is to just be and get comfortable with silence.
- Observe what emerges without judgment. Thoughts, insights, and memories will flow into your mind. The key is to observe them and not force anything. This is probably the hardest thing to do because we are programmed to make sense of what’s going on. With more practice, this will get easier.
- End with gratitude and greater appreciation for your life. Giving yourself time for stillness is a gift. Give thanks for the time you gave yourself to be silent and notice how you feel. Appreciate any new awareness or insights you may receive.
Final Thoughts
With so much going on in our lives, practicing stillness will remind us of what’s important and what’s not. If you make it a regular practice, you will notice a difference in your mental and emotional health.
This means you will deal with and overcome your challenges from a place of calmness, self-assurance, and presence.
Action Step: If you do not have a stillness practice, try it on for a week. Schedule time for it, even as little as ten minutes. If you know it’s making a positive difference, make it a daily practice.
Question: Why else do you believe practicing stillness is important?
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