Stillness activates our Super Powers™
My friend and I are starting a T-shirt company and the title of this blog is a slogan for one of my creations. I want to wear it because it is one of the philosophies I live by. And when I am off, I recalibrate myself back because sometimes is just easier to hurry, to try to control, to react to what life brings and we suffer in that process.
Stillness is this quiet place where we connect with our hearts, our spirit which you might call God, Buddha, the Divine, the Source. Here we also connect with all human beings, it is where we can feel we are One.
Whatever your belief is, in stillness is where you get centered, it is where you find "home", it where your deepest insights come from. It is the place where confusion gets replaced by Calm.
Calm is one of our super powers.
Stillness activates our super powers because when we quiet ourselves, when we disconnect from the noise, the stories, the distractions of life we deeply connect with our inner being. We find peace, love and contentment, regardless of the circumstances around us, regardless of what other people are saying, judging or doing. Our attention goes inward.
We all have this insane part of us that want to control life's circumstances and people. We do that because we are chasing the feelings of happiness and peace and we believe in that moment if that person or situation changes, then, only then we can feel good. I have done it, you have done or are doing right now. Stop. You will not get anywhere but more confusion, frustration and discontentment. Opposite of what you really want.
When we get trapped in that mindset of insanity, we disconnect from our center, from our hearts, from our root. We lose touch, we give up our power, we forget we have a choice. We feel helpless, depressed, anxious and despair can set in.
To reclaim that power, find solitude, stillness and be in silence.
In that place you restore your inner landscape, you get back into your root of strength and true power. You decide how you want to feel, regardless what the world is doing. Impossible? Seems like it, and it is not. It is a practice and it takes awareness and your full presence in the moment.
Presence is another super power.
"How do I become still? By flowing with the stream." Lao Tzu
There is so much wisdom in this verse by Lao Tzu, a chinese master who lived 2.500 years ago.
Part of our insanity is to choose to go against the stream. This manifests when we fight nature's laws, like wanting to make someone be a certain way to please us. We want to "make it happen" in our business, relationships, health, weather! We need to replace "make happen" by "Allow to happen". In other words, let's choose stillness, presence and be in a receptive state, in a ALLOW state so what we want has room to be manifested.
Think about your life's best moments, like looking into someone's eyes and seeing him/her, listening deeply, being intimate with a lover, reading a beautiful poem, looking into a beautiful piece of art or watching a Sunset on the pacific ocean...you stopped in your stillness, you slowed down your breath, you calmed down your body so you could become fully present to take in every second of that magic moment, because it was a moment that could not be repeated.
Every moment is unique, it will never be repeated.
So you already practice stillness. Now is time to consciously practice stillness all day, every moment. It will be no more confusion, conflicts and chaos inside you. Outside will always be chaos and disturbances, and that is not your problem, you can't control it. What is happening inside you, your response is your problem. Or it is the solution when we know how to access our super powers.
"To know yourself as the Being underneath the thinker, the stillness underneath the mental noise, the love and joy underneath the pain is freedom, salvation and enlightenment." Eckhart Tolle
The best ways to practice Stillness so stillness becomes your inner posture is to breath deeply - that reminds the whole body that you are present. Meditation is the gym to strengthen your stillness, meditation prepares you for disturbances and chaos that happens outside of us, in meditation we train our minds and our bodies to stay steady and still in times of challenges. There we access our intuition and insights to solve problems that are calling out our attention.
We face the challenge with a centered body, a calm mind and with confidence that whatever it is, we can get through it and it will pass, like a storm. It always passes, we just need to allow.
Make the time for this practice. You make time already for things that are important to you, make this inner work important to you if you want more joy, love and peace within you. It is worthy, you are worthy.
With so much love, Alex.