You Won’t Find Peace Without Presence, Silence, & Stillness
I want you to fully zone into every word, sentence, comma, space, and breath of this blog. What I am asking of you, I am challenging myself to do the same as I write this. I’m making an effort not to focus on the end product of this body of work as I produce it but rather savor every moment with you and me right here, right now.
If you decide to continue reading from this point forward, please give yourself your undivided attention. Grab a comfortable seat. Take a deep breath. Let’s chat. You’ll find that you don't need to seek out peace anymore, it’s available to you RIGHT NOW.
You Won’t Find Peace Without Presence
Before recently, I attested to not being able to perform meditation. As a visionary and critical thinker, my mind is constantly racing. This was until I started reading The Power of Now by spiritual teacher, Eckhart Tolle. As I made my way through every page, I began to understand that meditation is not what I once thought it was. I easily categorized the practices of being present and meditating in two separate boxes, but believe it or not, they are the same. Well, at least now I feel that they should be practiced like they are. The most formalized way I had developed practicing presence was through attending concerts and festivals, one of my favorite past times. It began serving as a space of escape for me to enjoy being in the moment through witnessing good music, talent, and the fellowship of both friends and complete strangers.
Meditation, on the other hand, didn’t feel nearly as fun. It didn’t feel like anything at all except for me failing at quieting my mind. I didn’t understand that meditation is our way away from our minds. My belief now is that meditation doesn’t have much to do with the mind at all, but rather with feeling. This is why I believe that mediation and being present should be seen as synonymous. What I’ve always liked about practicing presence is that it is simply you feeling this current moment. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, this is what I’d like you to do. Take a deep breath. Close your eyes. Sink into your body and allow yourself to go as deep as possible.
Try it now. And then return to this writing when you’ve felt any sort of tingling or sensory sensations.
Welcome back. What did you feel? How did it feel?
You’ve just been introduced to your gateway to peace. Meditation (being present) is not about the emptiness of the mind at all, it is about the feeling in your body behind the emptiness you are trying to fill your mind with. Next time you have a bit of trouble meditating, don’t fixate on what’s going on in your head. Focus on what’s happening inside your body. Focus on that tingling sensation that you experience throughout your body when you allow yourself to just sink into yourself. If you are having a hard time accessing what your body is feeling, as Eckhart Tolle taught me “take routine activities that normally function only as a means to an end and give it your fullest attention so that it becomes an end in itself.” You can start by paying attention during your hot morning shower, commute to work, or even when you’re washing your hands before a meal. Use those moments to access presence through feeling.
You Won’t Find Peace Without Silence
Cultivating a peaceful space where you’re fully present through meditation requires silence. Have you ever just randomly started to stare at something glaringly? If you have, then you have the means to practice silence. I like to look out of my bedroom window and fixate my attention to the leaves on the tree. I begin quieting my mind's previous thoughts by dotting on the leaves and being present by simultaneously feeling what’s going on inside of my body. We can’t discover what our true essence is through all the noise inside of our heads. We need moments alone. Moments to process our lives so we’re not just going through the motions. The peace that we are all trying to access comes from discovering and owning a sense of self that is not rooted in anything outside of us. When we can cultivate our own space of quiet in our head even as the world remains noisy and bustling, we’re a step closer to peace.
My badge of honor is no longer a mind that moves a million miles a minute. Perpetual peace doesn’t come from a brilliant mind. It comes from a silent and still one. In fact, all of my great ideas actually come from a brief moment of pause and silence before it. So imagine what we all could innovate if we spent more moments being intentionally quiet?
Let’s take a moment of intentional quietness. I want you to count from twenty to zero backward slowly. Not a peep.
You Won’t Find Peace Without Stillness
From young, I always enjoyed sitting on the porch. My mother knew that if she needed to find me somewhere throughout our house it was on our porch breathing in the fresh air, feeling the cool Caribbean breeze, and watching the goats and chickens run our yard wild. Escaping to my porch inches away from my bedroom provided me with the opportunity to be still in a way that my busy home couldn’t. I could sit up on this stoop and appreciate everything else continue to move around me, while I chose to remain still. Stillness occurs from intentional presence during a space or moment of silence. Starting your mornings by sitting with a cup of tea is one of the best ways to practice this. During a time where a capitalistic and grind hard while others sleep mentality pervades, stillness remains one of THE most underrated practices.
How many of you have a hard time being patient and approach life like it's a race?? If we mastered stillness, then we wouldn't have a hard time being patient. Let me provide you with an example. Let's say you are at an establishment waiting for quite some time to be served. You could use that moment to think about just how much of your time is being wasted and it's setting you back for the day or you could enjoy your own presence for the meanwhile. You probably don't have many moments to be still throughout your day anyway, so why not appreciate the stillness and gift of the current moment? Our failure to seize the moment by being present is usually due to being resistant. Stillness and resistance cannot occur simultaneously. Stillness is an act of acceptance.
