Harnessing the Power of Stillness for Personal Strength and Growth

"Stillness Is the New Strength"

~ YogaRenew ~

This was the title of a post from YogaRenew that I saw this morning and it immediately spoke to me, with the wonderful wording. The post discusses Yin Yoga, however I want to share these words in another context (though certainly connected).

To continue the discussion of slow the #$%^ down, as a health practice that is increasingly needed in our day to day lives, these words hit home! There is now (arguably more than ever) STRENGTH in stillness. Why? Because it's becoming less prominent. Stillness is a "nutrient" if you will, that our physiology used to get NATURALLY, every day in various ways. Now however, we are becoming increasingingly deficient in this "nutrient".

Balance, as always, enters the conversation

It's important to remind ourselves that as negatively as we view our situation(s) in present times, we truly are BETTER off than ever before in human history in nearly every facet of our existence. However, things ARE DIFFERENT (as they are in every generation). Therefore, we NEED to ADAPT and LEARN how to live a healthy lifestyle in our modern times. We need to LEARN how to BALANCE our incredible technologies and opportunities today that available to us, with MOTHER NATURE (our physiology) to PROMOTE rather than PUMMEL our deep health. This is all of us; working folks, parents, non-parents, business owners, retired people... ALL OF US!!

As always, it's NOT just "one thing" that's the cause of our over-scheduled, exhausting and hectic lifestyles for so many...

👉Since roughly 2007 in the release of the smartphone, our day-to-day world has been "under siege" with more, more, MORE.

👉This, among other technologies has increased the amount of "busy work" we can do from ANYWHERE in the world.

👉Social media has put EVERYONE's lives in front of our faces at any given moment of the day. This makes us feel like we're "behind" if we aren't doing all the wonderful things "everyone else is doing".

👉Transportation is the easiest it's ever been. If you want, you can fly across the country for a weekend trip technically. This ease of getting around creates the ABILITY to do MORE.

👉The "Business of Sport" has led parents and their kids to early specialization in sport, which has led to year-round on the go travel, expenses etc... while STILL putting kids in other sports all at once (which only ADDS to this lifestyle)

👉 Small business is harder and harder with each passing year, especially as modern life changes so rapidly. Putting more on ourselves to be able to make a profit, shift gears and adapt when needed etc has entrepreneurs pushing MORE on themselves and their employees.

👉The "everyone's a winner" mentality has infiltrated our modern lives beyond sports, which makes it harder for people to say "NO" (to groups, teams and/or our own kids), limit activities/events and brings people to getting involved in things they maybe wouldn't have otherwise (good & bad scenario)

👉Technology and entertainment has LENGTHENED our days so that we are sacrificing REST, RECOVERY and SLOWING down in favour of staying out / up late, binging shows / content while staring into bright lights etc.

👉 Events are more promenant even in smaller communities, which means there is ALWAYS something to do and experience MOST of the time. This is another good AND bad scenario.

... These are quick examples. There are plenty more out there.

All of this leads to an "All or Nothing" society where we are CONSISTENTLY trying to "do it ALL"... LITERALLY!!!!! So much so, that we are NOT even RECOGNIZING the signs and symptoms that we're doing too much.

I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted just reading through just this list of examples of how life is having us DO TOO MUCH most days, let alone LIVING this day after day, month after month, year after year. We have to INTENTIONALLY CREATE BALANCE for ourselves, through our CHOICES.

Choosing Stillness

For some folks, just hearing that may make them cringe;

"But how will I get everything done?"...

"I don't have time for stillness"...

"I'm fine" ...

(they say while holding their 5th coffee, with eyes bugging out of their head, hair all over the place and shaking like crazy)

Choosing STILLNESS will...

🧘 Promote REST & RECOVERY in your nervous system. Slowing down, breathing, choosing calming activities etc kicks in our Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS). This is the "Rest & Recover) side of our Central Nervous System (CNS). Most of us currently live with our Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) in a CONSTANT state of activation. (This chronically elevated state is what we DON'T want for our health and this is what wears us down in multiple ways after so long. The SNS is designed to kick in to help us manage an acute stressor, but then come back DOWN - REST & RECOVER).

🧘 Promotes THINKING and CREATIVITY. Slowing down and/or implementing stillness promotes improved cognitive function - period! When we're constantly flooding our minds with STUFF during every waking moment of our days, we experience an energy drop, trouble remembering things, issues with staying focused on something for any length of time etc.

🧘 Promotes time to "step back" and gain perspective. I speak from experience when I say (and firmly agree with) the fact that when we are "in the thick" of high stress and/or constantly "on the go" days for a period of time, we CAN'T see or FEEL what our body is telling us or going through. It's not until we STEP BACK and "take some breaths" (figuretively and/or literally) that we discover what is happening to our body inside and out.

🧘 Promotes awareness of the impact on those around you. When you have SO MUCH going on and little to no time for your wellbeing, it's very hard to understand the impact you are having on those around you as well. Whether it's personally or professionally, your constant state of "busy-ness" can negatively impact those around you. It may be in the form of your lack of commitment / inability to commit to something, your lack of focus in conversation, your inability to listen, your inability to follow through... Your CHOICE to NOT say "NO" to balance your "YES'" CAN impact those around you, IN ADDITION to your own deep health.

🧘 Promotes a rejuvenating and refreshing sense of being. For some this may sound a bit "out there", but until you experience it you can't understand. Because of the way most of us live our lifestyle today, when you CHOOSE to incorporate some SLOW and/or STILL moments in your days you can experience an incredible euphoric feeling that is so rejuvenating it will make you smile and think, "why don't I do this more?".

🧘 Promotes a better understanding of YOURSELF. This may scare some people (which is a scary statement in itself in my opinion, but true nonetheless). When we are constantly on the go, scheduling every free moment with something and "DOING" we CANNOT know ourselves; our likes, dislikes, beliefs, feelings, ideas, worries, joys etc... When we don't understand ourselves, we will forever have a hard time creating HEALTH and WELLBEING.

There are SO MANY forms of Strength that we now understand

This may confuse or scare some folks, but I see this as a VERY GOOD thing because we can then BUILD STRENGTH and RESILIENCE in SO MANY different ways!! To me it's a different kind of "energy" (for lack of a better) word when we work on ourselves in this way. You may be physically tired from your work day or because you were driving all over the place all day long, but you DO have the energy to CHOOSE ...

...to sit quitely for 5min and just BE.

...to write (whatever comes to your mind) with pen and paper.

...to gently move your body through a few yoga postures or mobility exercises on your mat.

....to hop in the hottub, sauna, shower or warm bath for a bit.

.... to put on some dim lights or candles and read a book

.... to sit quietly with a tea and just relax in your chair/couch.

... the list goes on.

ANY of these OPTIONS (among many others) DO build STRENGTH. Don't believe me? 👇

By "doing stillness" you promote rest and recovery. This means, tomorrow you'll feel better than if you stayed on the go for an extra few hours (be it physically or working more for example). You most likely ALSO get a better sleep, which will ALSO help you feel better the next day. Meanwhile, if you kept GOING and CHOOSING to NOT incorporate SLOW/STILLNESS into today you may be dragging your ass TOMORROW. In other words, you'll have LESS STRENGTH tomorrow to "do the things".

By GIVING yourself time to SLOW the #$%^ DOWN, you give yourself time to breathe, think and create. Meaning it may open up ideas and opportunities to do something tomorrow (personally or professionally)! Meanwhile, if you kept GOING and CHOOSING to NOT slow down / add some stillness, your mind would stay AS JUMBLED as it already is and you'd either not do as good of a job in whatever you're doing OR you'll have a VERY hard time figuring out ANY solutions to something you're struggling with.

By GIVING yourself time to slow down, you keep a clearer head. You're not backing out of things as often, you feel more organized and you feel more flow to your days. This GIVES you energy! Meanwhile, if you keep pounding your days and your weekly schedule with filling every free moment, barely holding on to what you need to do next or where you need to be next, you DEPLETE your energy; which does NOT set up tomorrow for being at your best, does it?

STILLNESS truly is a STRENGTH.

I (as you can tell) could NOT AGREE MORE with that statement. We desperately NEED more people to grab hold of that fact and ACT on it, if we want to create a healthy modern way of living.

You don't "have to" meditate...

You don't "have to" sit in a bubble bath with epsom salts...

You don't "have to" journal your deepest thoughts every day...

You just NEED to make SMALL changes to your days that CREATE more SLOW and STILL moments.