Stillness

Last week I awoke on a vacation morning in Lake Tahoe by myself, well not entirely. My thirteen year old best dog friend was with me. What I first noticed in that moment was stillness. There were no sounds. Everything was quiet. It was if a hush had landed on everything including me. I felt this inner sense of peace, a feeling that helped me relax and enjoy the moment. As the day went on the hush vanished. Thoughts swirled in my head and noise was everywhere: repair work on the roads, standing in line at the grocery store, text messages and calls dinging on my phone. Later when I returned to the resort I remembered that feeling of calm. I realized that my life would be better if I could notice it more often, but I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it like having to mediate every day.  When I returned back home and was busy at my desk working on the computer I glanced over at my dog laying very still on the floor with her eyes partially closed as if she were in a trance. Suddenly I felt like that too! I knew she wasn’t thinking about anything or checking off things on her to-do list. My dog was teaching me stillness. I stopped what I was doing and for a moment I just let myself feel her peacefulness. Now I do that a couple of times during the day. That’s it!

Intention:  Find something close by that you can see, touch, hear or smell that reminds you to sit in stillness for a few moments each day. It could be a special plant in your office or a screen saver on your computer. You could light a candle and notice it as you work. Be creative and create stillness in your daily life. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh………