Stillness…..?
Stopping…..?
What ARE these words?!?!
They are foreign to a lot of people, especially to a mum. I don’t know about you, but as a mum to 3 gorgeous (but sometimes challenging) children, a wife, running my own business, looking after the household and finances, I struggle to find time to breathe, let alone stop! Some days the days just disappear. I wake at 6am and before I know it, it is 10.30pm and I am exhausted. During that day, I have been on the GO, non-stop (oh, there IS the quick lunch of 10 mins in and amongst doing something else). It is insane!
Fortunately, I have realised a long time ago that I NEED to stop, I need to do it for my own wellbeing (and yes, sometimes I forget, but hey, I’m not perfect, I’m human, and that’s ok). So I understand that I need to stop for my physical body, for my emotional body and for my spiritual body. If I don’t stop and allow my body to catch up, to breathe, to be still, it suffers. For me, that means restless sleep (or no sleep as my mind and body is so wired up from the day), pain in my physical body (because I have pushed it so much without it being able to have a pause), anxiety (due to rushing around all day and not allowing my body to be still and take those deep breaths that calm the body), frustration (not giving myself some self-care).
So, I make sure that in some part of my day I allow myself to STOP. That can be in a lot of different ways, my absolute favourite is at the end of the day (after dinner, dishes, lunches, etc….. have been made) I take myself into my bedroom and meditate for 15 mins. Ahhhhh….. Bliss….. Imagine, after a day of constantly going, going, going, you just STOP…., there is quiet, there is stillness…. I literally feel my physical body catch up, I feel it start to slow down and catch its breath. I hear my mind start to quieten, the chatter in my mind starts to disappear. I feel my breath deepen, as it was holding its short shallow breaths during the day and now it has the space to deepen into the long, relaxing breaths that calm my body. My body thanks me, my mind thanks me, my spirit thanks me.
I have lots of different ways that allow me to STOP and be STILL, another absolute favourite of mine is being in nature amongst trees, lying down on the grass, bare feet, connecting with our beautiful earth and its sparkly energy. Breathing in all that nurturing fresh air and releasing all the busyness in my body, letting it go. My body instantly calms, relaxes and becomes still….. Ahhhh….. Bliss….
Or it can even be something as simple as sitting in silence and enjoying a warm cup of tea….. Stopping. Stillness. Ahhhh…. Bliss….
Without the stillness or allowing ourselves to stop, we actually become stuck. Stuck in the busyness and the rushing around and stuck in the thoughts that continue to rush around in our heads. If your life is super busy, then it would be an absolute MUST that you make time to STOP. Make the time to be STILL. Those 15 mins of stillness will make a world of difference to you. It will actually give you more clarity, focus, energy, which will actually help you to get through the busyness of your day in a more positive space and more productive way.
You are in control of your Well-being, so do what you need to, to keep it in the best possible shape!
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