by Kristin Gould, Founder, OLA.Life Yoga
Silence is bred from sound. So is movement and light. It doesn’t work the other way around. When we are able to withdraw our senses, slow down, and become still, we understand the intrinsic power that noise, action and darkness have over us. Most of us must live in this world, but it should not control us. No chaos should hold power over us.
How can we be still and fearless to the thoughts in our minds?
It takes courage. It takes time. It takes intention. It offers peace, creates possibility and brings transformation. You are already vibrant, radiant, strong, and beautiful. You are enough. However, are you content, present and well-balanced? This is a big question, so let’s dig a little deeper into what makes us fantastically human.
First, we all search for our tribe of like-minded seekers with whom to explore possibility and potential, manifest courage, be inspired, dispel negative energy, and promote emotional and physical healing. We are blessed by their energy and the joy they bring us. They motivate us and intercede with our karma while surfing the unpredictable waves of change within us. The author, Annie Dillard said, “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” This is a deceptively simple quote because it’s important to be wise about how we direct our energy, our purpose, and our minds. There is a deep reservoir of silence residing within us, the source we tap into for our stamina, vitality and potential.
How exactly do we tap into that source? Are you being called to explore the answers to some of life’s big questions? The good news is, you don’t really need to meditate. Phew, right?
You just need a burning desire to be really, really quiet… deep down in your soul. Are you curious; do you have willpower? The secret is 120 seconds of silence. It could be as long as five minutes or more, but two minutes is enough time to begin a silent practice.
At first, your mind will vacillate between pleasurable and painful thoughts because our thoughts are relegated to three basic perceptions: past experiences, future expectations and untruths. We think back to yesterday and then we think about tomorrow, and about things that are most likely not even true and will never happen. For example, how often do you think that someone is talking about you behind your back? In reality, they are probably too busy with their own thoughts (often about themselves) to think about what you are doing. This cacophony of noise chattering away in your mind creates fictitious stories, which leads to judgmental thinking and then to misunderstandings. When we silence our minds, even for just a few minutes, we replace unpleasant discord with tranquility. We can experience more thoughts of peace, harmony and order.
Let’s explore duality. There are two types of feelings and thoughts that share equal power, truth and perspective.
- I am “pain/loss/death/despair”
- I am “safe/free/light/blissful”
It is natural for us to cling to what we like and ignore what we don’t like; so, we live in a constant tension between the two forces. Back and forth, back and forth until we are dizzy from such tumultuous thinking. What if we could learn to accept this duality and allow the possibility of contentment with what is? We need to learn that anarchy and harmony are both temporary. I am that I am. Just like you have a left eye, you also have a right eye, and the two eyes operate in tandem, in order to see that pain and joy are simply and profoundly the opposite sides of the same coin.
One of the benefits of a little soulful, silent time is that the chaos will dim, and contentment will rise. There’s a clarity that is revealed through silence that will affect how you think, speak, connect with others. You are brilliant! Your path is bright! Now, are you ready to work on the following five steps?
The Five Cs: Commit, Cultivate, Close, Calm, Create
Step One: Commit
Commit to two minutes each day, seven days a week. You spend five or maybe even ten times that on social media, throughout the course of one day and probably wish you hadn’t. So, commit – fourteen minutes over seven days.
Step Two: Cultivate
Cultivate Inquiry. Be brave enough to confidently ponder some big questions and listen to your higher self. You may not have immediate answers but be receptive to your thoughts and witness with inquisitiveness. Of the seven questions, choose one daily for the seven-day practice.
Where are you?
What are you doing with your precious life?
Who are you with?
How do you feel?
What do you see?
Where will you go next?
How will you design this day?
Step Three: Close
Close your mouth and eyes. No speaking. Swallow. Relax the muscles of your face.
Step Four: Calm
Calm breathing. Inhale and exhale. Focus on the ebb and flow of your breath with child-like curiosity. Invite an even, steady, silent, and free-flowing quality.
Step Five: Create
Create a canvas in your mind, a space you can fill with creativity, desires, wishes, dreams, and intellect.
Let yourself be free to watch what sparkles in your mind and shimmers in your heart. After two minutes open your eyes and take a deep breath. Smile from your heart and begin your day. You have nothing to lose except two minutes on Instagram. What are you waiting for?
And, remember – I’m betting on your willpower – I’m betting 108 OMs that nobody is in your room right now. Go there, cultivate the 5 Cs, invite curiosity. And repeat to yourself, “Be still my soul … I am that I am.”
Peace OUT. Love and Hari OM,
Kristin Jyoti, Gould
OLA.Life
Kristin, Jyoti, Gould is a teacher, writer and public speaker in the science of yoga, meditation and Ayurveda on the New Jersey coast. Kristin is inspired daily by Mother Ocean, her husband and three remarkable, grown, children. She believes the best teachers are found in nature and enhance the way we look at the world around us. This principle gave rise to OLA.Life – the action of being alive.
