Stillness

When you take the time to walk around the city, you realize how big the world is... yet you also realize how small it can be if you remain to be contained in a bubble. It's so easy to get lost or feel lost - it's easy to feel scared or get scared. This life can present itself some grand questions with few answers. How do we contend with the constant ambiguity and vagueness of life ?

The road to authenticity is indeed one that may be less travelled yet also be the same road worth travelling.  To stay grounded, it is important to take the time to be with yourself.  In those moments, it is also most important to find stillness.  I know this to be true.  Since my last post, I have spent a great deal of time just stopping... finding space between my ears.  When we begin to notice the pause in between breaths, the pause in between thoughts... we are well set on our way to finding stillness.  Here's a tip, the only way you can measure your success is through the degree of peace you feel after taking that moment to stop.

There are many ways to achieve this.  This is how I do it:

First, I find a place where I can sit undisturbed.  As soon as I am settled, I start to breathe in through my nose and feel the breath down to my lower abdominals.  It is important to feel that air pass through the body, noticing the raising of our chest and the expansion in our ribs.  Once I have the rhythm, I slowly close my eyes and stay in that space for a moment.  As I breathe in and out, I turn up my senses to notice the sounds around me, the sensations I feel - the weight of my body against the floor, my hand resting on my thighs, the way my body feels in space.  When you get there, you know you're in the moment.  I rest in this stillness and notice any emotions that come up.  I don't have to name it, I just need to feel it in my body.  I know that when I am feeling angry, I feel it right in the pit of my stomach.  When I feel sad, I feel a pressure on my heart.  It is important to acknowledge these emotions and allow them to pass through us because that is when we truly feel our spirits being quenched.  Trust me, you will come out stronger at the end of it. Once you begin to notice these feelings in your body, just send your breath to that area.  You can place your hand on it and send messages of love to yourself.  It works so  beautifully because when we treat ourselves with compassion, we will begin to notice the space between the pain and the clarity.  We then have the strength to separate from the intensity and just know that the feelings are present.  It's like the clouds amidst the clear blue sky.  As you end this moment of stillness (or meditation), remember to send gratitude and set an intention to find this space throughout the day.

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