Stillness

There’s no need to create the space for stillness – it’s there all the time patiently waiting in the background. Stillness lies underneath all thought, emotions, physical sensations and activities. It’s the stable and familiar bedrock of being that we can all naturally access.

Try this practice to to connect with stillness that can make a real difference to your cognitive clarity, decision making, mental health and wellbeing.

Find somewhere undisturbed, sit in a comfortable, dignified and upright posture where you can remain alert and aware. Then close your eyes while this meditation plays.

Read more at https://www.mindfulcall.co.uk/awareness/stillness/

Transcript

Let's start by simply noticing what you're already experiencing.

The sounds,

Sensations,

Emotions and thoughts.

Just seeing what's already going on for you.

Without following off onto any particular thought,

Just acknowledging what's there.

Also noticing the quality of your experience.

Are you feeling grounded,

Calm and centered,

Or bouncing around in your experience?

Is your attention stable or scattered?

See if you can notice everything that's being experienced just as it is.

Not getting caught up in following any particular thought,

Or pushing anything away.

Not trying to change anything.

Just working with what's already here with you in this moment.

And now moving from noticing what you're experiencing.

I'd like you to imagine you're sitting in your favorite armchair.

You can picture this in your mind's eye.

Feeling really comfortable and relaxed.

Feeling a quieter and less busy space.

Fully aware of your breathing and the sensations of your body.

Feeling the rise and fall of your breath.

Aware of the pause at the end of each in-breath and at the end of each out-breath.

And resting in the stillness during the pause.

And remaining in the stillness as the breath moves through its natural cycle,

If you can.

So each time the breath moves around,

Holding on to that point of stillness.

Maybe noticing thoughts,

Feelings and sensations arise,

Like bubbles reaching up for the surface,

But not following up on them.

Acknowledging them,

But resting in the stillness that's already here.

The awareness in which all this is happening is still.

From where you notice noise and activity,

Favor the stillness beneath it.

Notice yourself as stillness.

Let all the activity of the mind and everything you're experiencing float on that stillness.

Let the stillness that's in the background of everything be the foreground.

And let all the experiences be in the background.

Let yourself be that stillness.

Resting in stillness as the observer of the rising and falling sensations,

Thoughts and feelings.

And now letting go of exploring stillness,

But remaining with it if you can.

And expanding your awareness to the whole of your body.

Aware of your body from the soles of your feet,

To the tips of your fingers,

To the top of your head.

Noticing the warmth and energy in your body.

Aware of your body in contact with the floor and the chair.

Noticing the sounds in the room.

Expanding your awareness to take in sounds from outside.

Reaching right out if you can to the furthest sound you can hear.

Feeling a sense of spaciousness.

Seeing if you can touch into the stillness within that expanded field of awareness that encompasses all of the sounds and activity.

And rest there for a moment.

Feeling stable and balanced.

All and complete.

Taking this appreciation of stillness and practice coming back to stillness before and after each activity of your day.

Reviews

This was the perfect balance of quiet reflection and stillness and expert guidance

Really great way to connect with now. Very relaxing voice. Bell at the end, so not for sleep.

Tremendous! I'm gonna come back to this one a lot. My mind was all over the place before this awesome reminder of stillness.

Excellent. I was feeling rushed and pulled in different directions, now I feel calm and focused and more peaceful.

Thank you for this well paced guided meditation that invites us to reside in our inner stillness which is a deeply vital and valuable practice.

I liked when he said to bring the stillness to the foreground instead of the background.

Excellent! Beautifully phrased and well paced. I’ll be remembering to come back to stillness often during this day. Thank you.

Loved - especially the notion of stillness in the foreground and everything else in the background.

Very nice meditation. This was a good stillness exercise for sure.

Simple, good voice easy to hear, definitely soothing and a good practice

Thanks especially for the image of the stillness in which all the phenomena take up so much attention moving into the foreground, even if only imagining it.

I really enjoyed the clean simplicity of this. Lovely tone and helpful pace. Will definitely be bookmarking! Thank you, Paul 🙏🏽🌿

Perfect, brought me straight into stillness

🌿✨💜✨🌿 Thank you. Xxx

Deeply grounding practice. Thank you.

Thank you. Wonderful. I love the concept of attaching to the stillness that lies beneath all activity. I will come back to this meditation.

Lovely and grounding

Beautiful.
Thank you.

Very much an anchor.

Thank you for this wonderful, calming meditation that I was so fortunate to find during in extremely anxious time. Thank you