When was the last time you recall being still in your life? The last time you had a moment to yourself where you could pause without rushing into the next task or place you needed to be?
It's all too easy to get caught in rushing from one activity to another, juggling responsibilities, meetings, and social commitments. In this 'activity mode', we get carried away by the momentum of doing and without realising it, end up running on autopilot. It becomes a bit like running on a treadmill; even if we wanted to, it can be difficult to stop. Ironically, it is in moments of relentless activity where the more we do, the less we seem to accomplish.
Stillness on the other hand is stepping outside of our usual 'doing' to tap into a greater awareness about ourselves. More than just a lack of activity, stillness is the deliberate and conscious decision to pause from all the doing in order to allow ourselves a moment to reflect and reconnect to ourselves. Put another way, stillness invites us to stop and check if we are going in the right direction.
Whether it is through meditation, quiet reflection, or simply enjoying a cup of tea (without scrolling on our phone at the same time), this practice can be transformative for our sense of wellbeing.
Mental Health Benefits
1. Clarity of Mind:
In stillness, we provide space for thoughts to settle. This quieting of the mind allows us to gain perspective, making it easier to sift through emotions and concerns. When we’re not overwhelmed by the noise of life, we can access clearer thoughts and make better decisions.
2. Reducing Anxiety and Stress:
The act of slowing down signals our nervous system to relax. When we practice stillness, we help downregulate our stress response, activating the parasympathetic nervous system, which brings about a sense of calm and reduced anxiety levels.
3. Autonomy and Choice:
Stillness invites us to connect with our inner self and tune in to our feelings. This can help us choose healthier responses instead of reacting impulsively. We strengthen the skill of observing our emotions with curiosity as sources of information for the decisions to make and directions we need to head in.
Creating Stillness
Because life is constantly happening, we have to be deliberate about creating pockets of time that are protected from activity. Time for stillness is something that needs to be actively created.
Some tips to get started in creating stillness:
Expect discomfort
When you’re used to the excitement and stimulation of doing, it can seem strange and uncomfortable to suddenly slow down or be still. Expect this. There will naturally be a period of transition and shifting into a lower gear. The more activity you have come from, the greater the contrast. Stillness also can bring about unexpected and sometimes uncomfortable thoughts or feelings. Expect this too and get curious about what comes up instead of giving in to the urge to distract from the discomfort by engaging in more doing.
Set Aside Time
Designate a specific time each day or week for stillness that is non-negotiable. Five to ten minutes to start off with can be enough to make a difference. This provides a planned and contained period of time where you are ‘allowed’ to do nothing without disruptions or guilt.
Stillness in Nature: During this contained time of stillness, it can be helpful to be outdoors in nature. Nature naturally encourages a sense of stillness. Leaving our phones and obligations to aside as we venture outdoors (even taking a walk around the block if nature isn’t always accessible) is an effective way to switch gears and down-regulate our nervous system into stillness.
Digital Detox: Limit screen time, even for an hour or two to give your mind a chance to unwind. Many of us find ourselves scrolling as a way to switch off and relax by being ‘mindless’ but everytime we are on our screens, we are actually being flooded with an immense amount of excitement and pleasure through digital and social stimulation. The ‘feel good’ dopamine hit we get is our reward for engaging with our screens. Understandably, it is therefore hard to tear ourselves away from it.
Putting limits to occasionally disengage from our devices is a natural way to restore our body’s natural dopamine system. Eventually, we may even find being still and doing nothing just as rewarding and pleasurable as being connected to our devices.
Being still is a practice that takes active cultivation. Creating time for stillness means we live more deliberately, carefully choosing what to do with our time and energy. There is a time for taking action and getting things done as well as a time to pause and carefully assess the direction we need to go in. In this way, we may find that we end up achieving more, by doing less.