Re-Discovering Stillness

This is your invitation to re-discover a place of stillness within. Finding that place is key to greater awareness of your place in this wonderful reality. That awareness raises the possibility of your making your unique contribution to the sum total of human happiness. Background music is"It is Nightime Again" by Narekl Mirzaei of Music of Wisdom

Transcript

Music Dear friends,

Today I want to see if we can bring ourselves to a place of complete rest.

This meditation is called Rediscovering Stillness.

We begin by closing our eyes as usual.

We'll take one or two deep breaths.

Breathing in in awareness.

We could use the mantra,

I'm breathing in and I'm aware that I'm breathing in.

And as we breathe out in awareness,

I'm breathing out and I am aware that I'm breathing out.

Let's do this for a few seconds until we become really present.

Feeling ourselves really here in the now.

There are lots of things we could be doing,

But for now we're going to do nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

We are going to simply let things be.

So we see about relaxing our bodies,

Crunch up the shoulders and then let them drop.

Notice the difference when you do that.

And now that we have the shoulders relaxed,

We let ourselves sink back into the chair or down into the cushion,

Wherever we happen to be.

Totally relaxed.

Letting ourselves be supported by gravity.

Becoming even more relaxed and just letting things be.

Notice how good it feels to be doing nothing.

To be doing absolutely nothing.

This is a change from the merry-go-round.

John Lennon captured what we're trying to practice today when he wrote the song,

Watching the Wheels.

You probably remember it.

I'm just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round.

I really love to watch them roll.

No longer riding on the merry-go-round.

I just had to let it go.

Words of John Lennon.

So today we are just going to let it go and let things be.

Taking a break.

Learning to just be here,

Still and present.

Nearer home the Irish singer-songwriter Mick Hanley encourages the same thing in his song These Days.

These days things are moving much better than they used to move.

Maybe I've finally let myself say there's much less to prove.

I used to go running round crazy trying to be more than a man.

But I'm doing a lot more lately doing the best that I can.

Just doing the best that I can.

Now you might remember that often in these sessions we first of all bring ourselves to a quiet space.

And we do that in order to practice living more mindfully.

And then when we get to that quiet space we become more aware of our place in the world.

We are better able to see how we might make things better.

We look at social issues,

The call for equality,

The need to exercise compassion and loving kindness,

The call to live a more caring life,

Practicing truth,

Watching out for the underdog,

Working for justice,

Peace and fairness.

And all this is as it should be.

Meditation helps to make us more mindful,

More grateful for life.

But then meditation has to lead us out into the world,

Up from the chair or cushion and out to try to leave this world a little better than we found it.

But that resolution has to come from a place of stillness.

If we are running around unmindfully we cannot respond mindfully to the events that present themselves to us.

So every now and then we need to stop and do nothing,

Just as we're doing today.

We need to slow down,

Stop and just be.

We need to give the universe a chance to prompt us as to what we need to do next.

And as a magic in standing still.

Winifred Emma May,

Who died in 1990,

Was a poet from the UK.

She was best known for her work under the pen name Patience Strang.

You might see her poems and verses on greeting cards.

Many years ago,

At a book and record sale,

I came across an old vinyl record by Patience Strang.

It's one of the handful of things I regret having parted with in my effort to keep myself clear of clutter.

One of the verses she reads on the record goes like this.

If you stand very still in the heart of a wood,

You will hear many wonderful things.

The snap of a twig,

And the wind in the trees,

And the queer of invisible wings.

If you stand very still and hold to your faith,

You will get all the help that you ask.

You will draw from the silence the things that you need.

Hope and courage and strength for your task.

Words of Winifred Emma May,

Otherwise known as Patience Strang.

So let's check now that we are still in a place of stillness.

Noticing our breathing,

Checking that our shoulders are still relaxed,

Dropping any feeling of tension in our face or in our jaw,

And just being present.

Masaru Emoto tells us,

If you feel lost,

Disappointed,

Hesitant or weak,

Return to yourself,

To who you are here and now.

And when you get there,

You will discover yourself like a lotus flower in full bloom,

Even in the muddy pond,

Beautiful and strong.

We have seen that stopping gives us the inspiration to begin again,

To redirect ourselves and to get up and do something with this incredible life that we've been given.

So let us be encouraged to give it a try and to be still.

So with that on board and before the end of our meditation,

Let's go back to a place of stillness within.

Once again notice our breathing,

Our breath coming in and our breath going out.

Become aware of our presence here and now.

Notice where we are in this room,

In this house or apartment or wherever,

And how good it is to be connected in this inside time or community.

We have so many things to be grateful for,

Especially the gift of awareness.

So let's sit in simple awareness for one minute,

60 seconds just being here.

So welcome back.

Welcome back.

Our closing quote today comes from Kristen Armstrong.

When everything is moving and shifting,

The only way to counteract chaos is stillness.

When things feel extraordinary,

Strive for ordinary.

When the surface is wavy,

Dive deeper for quieter waters.

That is the message for today.

Find stillness,

Find purpose,

Find happiness.

And now the divine in me bows to the divine in you.

Let's take care of one another.

Namaste.

Reviews

So calming and peaceful, which is what I need these days. The ending thought “let’s take care of one another “ is a perfect intention for all of us to make this world a better place. 🙏🏻

Thank you Tony. That was beautiful. I will return to this meditation often. Namaste 🙏💙

Thank you for this blissful, meaningful meditation ✨✨✨
Helen

Very nice opportunity for stillness, Tony, thank you! I never heard of Patience Strong—I’ll look up her work!
Namaste!
Donna

Wonderful, centering meditation for finding stillness.

Excellent meditation
Gentle, soothing, mindful, wise

Thank you for this Tony. What a beautiful moment of rest this practice is. God bless you 🙏🏽💐

Thank you Tony for this steady and calming opening to another wonderful day of this precious life.

Thank You Tony. What a precious moment of stillness with lots of gentle wisdom and hope.

Wonderful purposes Tony. Find stillness, find purpose, find happiness.
Go raibh maith agat Tony and beautiful purpose to you and Fran today. ✨🕯✨🐳✨💚✨

Beautiful gentle midday mind break & reflection. Namaste a chara

Thank you for your enthousiasm and the beautiful quotes 🙏

An absolutely beautiful way to start the day with inner peace. Thank you Tony 🙏

It is great to close the day with this beautiful meditation. Thanks a million.

Wonderful, just love your meditations. Thank you for your gift to the world 🙏🏽

What a lovely meditation to do at the start of COP 26 as the world 🌍 leaders run around this quiet and peaceful meditation was wonderful. Thank you Tony 🙏

Lovely, lovely, lovely. Whenever I need just a moment of peace, I listen to Tony. So good and can't go wrong quoting John Lennon! Thank you for kindness and support. ☮️💖🙏☘️

It was beautiful! Just what my heart needed! Thank you!

That’s so beautiful

Thank you so much for sharing this wisdom and light Blessings to you today and always 🙏😇