In our "can't stop, won't stop" world of perpetual motion, how do we find inner peace? How do we find stillness in motion?
For me, hummingbirds are a sweet reminder that even when we're moving so very fast, we can always find stillness. From the world around us to the inner workings of our body, there’s movement even when everything appears still. Our body is a system that’s humming with action, even when we don’t feel it. Even in the deepest sleep or meditation, we’re moving. In fact, we're hurdling through space right now – the earth is spinning at 1,000 mph and orbiting around the sun at 67,000 mph. All the while, the sun is orbiting the center of the galaxy at 1.3 million mph and the galaxy isn’t exactly sticking to a fixed location either.
When you break down anything to its absolute core, everything is moving in a cosmic dance of energy and space. So, stillness is really a form of dynamic balance, where sensitive adjustments are constantly being made to maintain our equilibrium. What adjustments can we make in our daily lives to find more stillness, more inner peace? Below are three ways to find stillness in motion that I've found helpful.
1. Spend Time in Nature
Spending time in nature is a wonderful way to find stillness. You don’t need to have an ocean, forest, or mountain range immediately accessible to appreciate the beauty and power of nature – it can be enough to simply step outside, breathe deeply, and appreciate whatever is living, growing, moving, chirping, or barking around you.
Nature leads us into a peaceful state of mind, perhaps because it doesn’t know a time other than the present moment. Trees don’t flip out every time there’s a storm on the horizon. The cactus isn’t worrying about world events or when it will rain. Hummingbirds have an aggressive migration schedule, but they stop in mid-air when they see a flower. Flowers aren’t stressing about the nectar loss, or the bees that are all up in their business. Rivers don’t have regrets. Caterpillars are required by natural law to turn into a pile of goo before they can turn into butterflies. I have to assume they’re not manic about that.
True, nature doesn’t have 24/7 news, clients, coworkers, family dynamics, mortgages, or brains. But, if we let it, nature can remind us that we’re part of nature too. Like our feathered, furry, photosynthetic, and microscopic friends, we don’t need to overwhelm ourselves worrying about the past and the future. We can relax into the present moment, do what we can now, peacefully, and trust we’ll know what to do next when we need to know.
2. Listen to Silence
Silence is always there. Like finding stillness in motion, listening to silence is a dynamic balance. Silence lives in the gaps between and beneath the commotion within and around us. External silence isn’t a prerequisite for inner silence. We can be in a noisy public place and still find silence in the gaps. By listening to silence, we can find stillness and peace.
Silence is more than not talking. It’s quieting our mind and withdrawing our active (and passive) engagement with sensory input. Listening to silence means intentionally focusing on the gaps between sounds and thoughts — listening for the silence underneath whatever is happening in our internal and external environments. When we turn inward, focus on breathing, and mindfully listen to silence, we move toward silence ourselves. The chatter in our heads quiets and our senses begin to withdraw. We’re aware of sound and activity around us, but it doesn’t disturb us. It doesn’t suck us in and demand that we engage with it.
Listening to silence automatically leads us into stillness. As our senses withdraw, our intuitive mind kicks in. We experience deep relaxation and peace. Bonus: when we’re in this state of calm presence, creative ideas, inspiration, and answers to questions we’ve been wrestling with can appear out of the blue. It’s also when our body starts to recover and heal.
3. Do One Thing
We think, process, and do so much in the course of our workday. We know we shouldn’t multi-task, because context switching tanks productivity, but we do it anyway. While we’re on a video call, we’re also checking instant messages. We might even try to sneak in a quick email — all while being half aware of our facial expression and adjusting our glassy stare at key intervals to pretend we’re not responding to emails.
Somehow, despite evidence to the contrary, we believe the amount of information we consume and create is necessary to be successful. In reality, our senses become overloaded by the constant stream of input. Intuitively, we know need to stop the madness and be more intentional about our consumption. While we may not be able to go a whole day without media, or even an hour of our workday, we can take small breaks. One of the easiest ways to reset and restore is to make mindfulness part of your day.
If you hear "mindful" and the word meditation pops up and brings anxiety with it, you’re not alone. I’ve come to love meditation, but it wasn’t love at first try. If you’re feeling the same, it might be helpful to adjust how you define meditation. Think of it as doing one thing, mindfully. If you’re intentionally focusing on your breathing, you’re meditating. If you’re listening to silence, you’re meditating. If you’re sitting, walking, or eating mindfully, you’re meditating. Meditation doesn’t need to be elaborate, guided, long, or even motionless. You don’t even have to close your eyes. Just do one thing, mindfully.
DIY Stillness
Doing pretty much anything with mindfulness can lead you to stillness and peace — enjoying nature, listening to silence, or doing one simple, routine thing with your full attention. (Not, say, driving a car or anything dangerous, mind you. More like brushing your teeth, doing the dishes, folding laundry, or walking to your car.) Wherever you are, assuming you are not operating a forklift or juggling knives, relax and bring awareness to your breath.
Observe your breath, noticing each inhale and exhale without trying to change it. Allow your breath to happen naturally, like waves, in and out. Breathe in through the nose, and out through the nose or mouth.
Tune into your body. Notice where you feel your breath in the body. As you inhale, notice your belly and chest expanding. As you exhale, notice yourself contracting and relaxing. Relax anything that feels tense — your jaw, your shoulders.
Let your full attention be on whatever you're doing (or not doing). If that's just sitting and breathing, great. If it's washing your hands, do that with focused awareness. As thoughts come up, that’s OK. You're not trying to fight off thoughts. Notice the thought without following it or engaging with it. Let the thought float on by, bringing your attention back to your body and your breath.
Breathe mindfully for as long as you want. Simply taking a moment to focus on your breath can lead you to inner stillness. When you’re feeling calm and peaceful, you can expand your awareness and move into the rest of your day more relaxed and centered. And, you can always come back for another mindful minute! We may not be able to physically transport ourselves to a quiet, peaceful external environment, but we can always take a moment to tap into our inner peace. (Unless you're juggling knives. Please don't juggle knives.)
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