Most human beings are uncomfortable with stillness.
For some people it brings on agitation,
Anxiety even,
Or some sort of discomfort.
What happens when we stop doing,
All the emotions we've been avoiding can tend to pop up.
There's lots of reasons why stillness can be uncomfortable,
But you are one of the brave ones,
You are one of the ones that understands that when we get comfortable in this state,
There is a lot to benefit from.
So let's just take a lovely big long slow breath in,
Bringing ourselves into this moment,
Into this quieter and stiller state.
And again,
A long slow deep breath and exhaling in your own time,
Settling into the body,
Adjusting it if necessary.
Making sure that the body is comfortable,
So at least one distraction is taken care of.
And the breath is one of the things that helps us to still our state,
To still our minds.
Because we naturally look for that distraction.
Breathing in and out,
Giving the mind something to do,
Something to follow.
And all our avoidance of stillness,
We want to avoid any of these feelings popping up.
Stillness for some can also equate to danger,
Because the nervous system is not familiar with this still state,
And the unfamiliar doesn't feel safe.
So we distract ourselves,
We keep moving,
We keep doing.
We also come from a world that glorifies our productivity,
And if we're not achieving something,
Who are we?
Where's the value that we're bringing,
If we're just being?
So coming into stillness,
We have to try and overcome all of these beliefs around what it means to be still,
And overcome that resistance to feeling emotions.
So being able to sit and allow whatever comes up to come up,
Without resistance,
Without judgment,
Without avoidance,
And without putting too much meaning or creating a story around what we feel.
So as we sit,
If you're feeling agitated,
Uncomfortable,
Just notice that,
And try very hard not to explain to yourself why.
Just notice it,
Notice as much as you can about what that feels like.
For some of you,
You might even get a picture of what that looks like.
Is the feeling dense?
Just notice as much as you can about your experience right now.
Just observing,
And interested,
And even giving your body a couple of minutes to just notice,
To just allow,
Can help these emotions to be processed,
Can help these emotions to move if necessary,
Or can just help you to allow and accept this part of you without the judgment.
You're not wrong for feeling these emotions.
You don't have to get rid of them straight away,
Or ever.
What if they were just part of who you are?
What if the experience of being human wasn't as rich if you didn't have this array of emotions?
What if the fact that you feel so deeply makes you the beautiful person that you are?
Sometimes the intensity of emotion allows us to feel the intensity of love,
The intensity of joy.
So the avoidance of the emotions we deem to be uncomfortable or negative can also mean that we don't fully feel the joy.
Coming back to your breath,
Noticing how you've been breathing,
Adjusting it if you like.
You want to take a few deeper breaths to allow your body on the exhale,
Releasing any tension that may have built up and speaking about emotions,
Any uncomfortableness,
Resistance.
Just breathing through it now.
Some long,
Slow exhales.
And remember that stillness is your true nature.
And little by little,
A more comfortable stillness is when we will become or be truly at peace with ourselves.
Taking a final big deep breath in,
Wiggling your fingers and toes,
And exhaling coming back into the space,
Into the day,
Deciding that today will be a beautiful day,
Inner and outer.
Thank you for joining me.
