Hello and sorry for the mess up with my numbering. This is really week 19 and I've decided to add a new topic in to elaborate on my challenge of Movement.
Being still can be a challenge for most of us. We like to move and that is fine -- like I mentioned in the Week 16 Challenge movement is life. I also mentioned that meditation is not stillness because their is progression and want to elaborate on this topic.
Why is being still such a challenge? Because it requires silence and surrender; and most importantly it teaches us about ourselves. This can be scary and therefore people would rather focus on external stimulus vs being introspective. That is fine however it can lead to an inner disconnect. In other words you start to lose your sense of self. Are you living your life or one for others?
If you start to lose your ground (e.g., aren't happy, not sure who you really are anymore, etc) then this challenge is especially important for you. This is probably one of the most important challenges for all of us. Remember when I use the word challenge it's to encourage growth. If we stay in the norm there is no room for growth (and that is the bad type of stillness, or inertia).
The Challenge:
1) Take 5 minutes each day to sit quietly. Set a timer so you don't spend the 5 minutes wondering how long you have been sitting.
2) Just sit and observe your thoughts. Don't engage in the thoughts; just notice them. Maybe you can imagine labeling each thought with a title like "work", "poor self talk", "judgement", etc.
3) After your 5 minutes reflect on what came up for you. What did your 5 minutes teach you? Did a new awareness about yourself come up? Is there something you want to work on?
What I'm working on:
I love learning new things and part of learning requires some judgement. As humans we take in new information by comparing it to something else we understand. This can be risky because we can too quickly label without exploring the "newness". For me it is helpful to take that extra moment to reflect vs. quickly lumping new information into an old category. Or it may be the same category but a new layer. For example, I went to a workshop yesterday and when I first got there I was thinking "I know this already". But then with my awareness I settled into stillness to listen vs. judge. Doing so created such a profound shift for me and by the end of the day I not only learned new things but created clarity in other areas. And what a joy it was to spend the day with other people interested in wellness!
Have a great week and Live Well!
Anymore my hands always seem to want to be busy when I have quiet time. So, I pick up knitting, or my journal, or write a letter.
ReplyDeleteI remember when I used to "sit" regularly, I mean really sit and contemplate, it seemed my senses became more alive. I have been yearning to get seriously into writing poetry or verse for so long now, perhaps the missing ingredient is to "sit" first. Gracias! We'll see how it goes this week.