Inspired Possibility
  • Home
  • About
    • Testimonials
    • Privacy Policy
  • Work with Me
    • Coming Home to Yourself Coaching
    • Serenity Now Retreats
  • Events
    • Come Home to Yourself Retreat
  • The Book!
    • Book Testimonials
  • Blog
    • Subscribe
  • Resources
  • Contact

Finding Stillness

4/11/2023

2 Comments

 
Picture
Often, we move through the ocean of life as if we’re riding the surface - tossed around, bobbing and rocking with every wave.  We may be floating safely enough, but in this constant churning, we’re also thrown about by life, by people, responsibilities, and demands that pull on us.  We are tossed and turned - at the mercy of things outside of our control. 

Yet, beneath the crashing waves, the dark depths of the ocean offer a place of profound stillness, some distance from the surface turbulence.  Similarly, deep within each of us, at the core, there is stillness available.  The trick is to find it.  Once we’ve found it, we only need to return there, time and again. 

In this space, receive and allow yourself to be nourished and fed.  Life continues at its frenetic pace, but you can find your own agency within it.  In this space, feel both your separateness and your connection with others - not splitting off, but coexisting, maintaining your own steadiness, even in the waves.  We become fluid ourselves as we flow with life a bit more smoothly, grounded and solid in the knowing, the sensation of our own body.

In the Stillness
In the stillness
the answers come,
truths are unearthed,
promises remembered.
 
In the stillness
prayers are answered,
hearts are restored,
dreams fostered,
visions captured.
 
In the stillness
the oneness becomes clear,
connection to self deepens,
universal threads intertwine.
 
In the stillness
the magic lies
waiting for you to visit
and reside here,
for however many moments.
 
© Barb Klein, 2016, from 111 Invitations: Step into the Full Richness of Life
 
What do you think?  What does stillness offer you?  What might become possible or evident if you took the time to find some quiet, some space? 

Lao Tzu asks, “Do you have the patience to wait
                            Till your mind settles and the water is clear?

                            Can you remain unmoving
                            Till the right action arises by itself?”

Such a great and powerful reminder to get out of the chaotic spin, the tendency to react and jump into action without even having fully formed thoughts or ideas about what would be wise, skillful, or helpful to you, to the other, or to the situation. 

Patience - they say it’s a virtue, and I suppose that’s true.  Yet when we’re confronted with urgency, it can be terribly hard to access.  Taking a pause.  Finding our place of internal stillness helps. 

What helps us get to that rich place of stillness?  Pausing. Gathering ourselves up in our own loving presence.  Granting ourselves grace, stepping back, stepping away before needing to take any action at all.  Remembering that rarely anything good comes from the instantaneous fight, flight, freeze, or facade response. 

It’s far better to slow things down, find our bearings by finding ourselves in this moment - take stock through our senses.  Notice what we see, hear, smell, taste, and feel in this space.  Awareness anchors us into the present moment.  In that moment we can find and claim the stillness, remembering that even in a hurricane, there is the center of the storm, the eye that is relatively untouched by the raging winds.  When the storms of life are raging, take yourself to the eye.  Find yourself standing firm in the strength of who you are… not rigid, but strong and supple, able to bend and flow as the willow does.  Bending, but not breaking because you are allowing the storm to happen around you, choosing not to step into it or resist it. 

In the stillness, close your eyes, touch your heart, and ask the most important question: What do I need in this moment?  Allow yourself permission to ask, knowing that your needs matter.  Allow the answers to come.  Allow yourself to hear, even if it’s uncomfortable.  And then, from this grounded stance, begin to get curious about the ways you might be able to tend to whatever needs arise.  What could you try?  Who could you ask for help?  What can you let go of?  Is there anything here that is not yours?  What can you turn over to someone else or to God or the Universe?  Are you trying to carry too much?  What can you put down, dear one? 

In the stillness, take stock again.  What do you see, hear, feel, taste, and smell now?  Have your senses opened?  Perhaps now you hear the bird song that wasn’t there in the crashing waves of panic.  Maybe your eyes have softened to notice the yellow wren swinging on the feeder or the warmth of your lamp or even the light within the mostly grey sky. Maybe your heart and breath have slowed a bit.  Maybe.  Maybe not.  What’s true for you? 

The stillness offers us, invites us, into intimacy with our heart and soul.  The stillness washes over us, enveloping us like a warm bath.  The stillness opens our hearts and minds to fresh possibility - to see what wasn’t there before.  To try something maybe we’ve never done before.  Stillness offers spacious room to breathe, to stretch, to grow. 

Stillness reminds us we do not have to rush, and that when we let go of the rushing, we are far better equipped to face whatever challenges await.  It doesn’t take long for this medicine to work its magic.  For it’s not really magic at all.  It is the natural way of being - the essence of who we are.  All the outer busyness and craziness - that’s conditioning, learned behavior from our society.  The sense that we must be on or available all the time, that we must respond in an instant - that’s nonsense.  It makes no sense except when there is an immediate danger, which is fairly rare.

There’s almost always more time than we think, and if we allow ourselves even a few moments of pause, of quiet, of stillness, what will emerge is so much richer, wiser, skillful, effective, supportive, helpful.  So much more likely to be grounded in who we are and what we believe in.  So much more aligned with what really matters to us.  So much more likely to lead to fewer mistake and fewer regrets.

Let’s dive beneath the surface to tap into this deep anchoring of still, quiet nourishment.  Imagine what could be if we all did that a little more often.  Imagine a world grounded in stillness before action. 

Please enjoy Leah Kent's beautiful guided meditation, Anchored Stillness, as a support toward finding your own stillness in this moment.  
 Leah Kent is a book coach and author who helps wisdom keepers and visionaries write and publish transformational books about their work in the world. She’s the creator of the Wild Embodied Writing method, and the author of Awakening the Visionary Voice. To learn more, visit leahkent.net or connect with Leah on Instagram @leahkentco

2 Comments
sharon wagner
4/12/2023 03:05:34 pm

Words can not express the sorrow I feel right now. I couldn’t read your post I was so upset. But will come back to it. I’m so very sorry for your loss. I will write more after I gather my thoughts. Again so very very sorry. So extremely sad.

Reply
Barb
5/5/2023 03:11:51 pm

Dear Sharon, Thank you for your deep empathy. It is terribly sad, and I appreciate you reflecting that in your response. My heart goes out to you.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Subscribe

    About me...

    I am a writer, coach, and teacher, and I love capturing life's many moments through writing, whether that be journalling, blogging, poetry, or essay.  I have always found the written word as a natural way for me to express what lies within.  

    This is the space where we get real.  I will write about my life experiences and things that I find my clients encounter in their daily lives.   

    What's real for you? What would you like me to write about?  Feel free to share with me topics you would like to see discussed and please join in the dialogue through the comment section. Your engagement makes the blog a much richer place to hang out!

    Thank you for joining me on this journey!!    

    Archives

    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    June 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    October 2023
    August 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    September 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    May 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014

    Categories

    All
    Addiction
    Anger
    #AtoZ Challenge
    Balance
    Biopsy
    Cancer
    Career
    Challenge
    Change
    Choice
    Comfort Zone
    Commitment
    Compassion
    Connection
    Coronoavirus
    COVID 19
    COVID-19
    Discernment
    Discomfort
    Disconnect
    Dreams
    Election
    Empathy
    Empowerment
    Extraordinary
    Family Recovery
    Fear
    Freedom
    Grace
    Gratitude
    Grief
    Harm Reduction
    Health
    Holidays
    Hope
    Inner Work
    Inquiry
    Inspiration
    Intention
    Intuition
    Joy
    Kindness
    Letting Go
    Life
    Light
    Logic
    Loving Kindness
    Meditation
    Mental Health
    Mindfulness
    Mom
    National Recovery Month
    New Year
    Overdose Awareness
    Overwhelm
    Pause
    Peace
    Perfectionism
    Personal Growth
    Perspective
    Possibility
    Presence
    Procrastination
    Purpose
    Quarantine
    Recovery
    Relationships
    Responsibility
    Rest
    Retreat
    Sadness
    Self Awareness
    Self Care
    Self-care
    Self Compassion
    Self-compassion
    Self Renewal
    Self-renewal
    Slowing Down
    Solstice
    Sport
    Stillness
    Strength
    Substance Use Disorder
    Support
    Thanksgiving
    Time
    Transition
    Wellbeing
    Women's Retreat

    RSS Feed

Barb Klein
Inspired Possibility
585-705-8740
[email protected]