Speed lives within the body and I am only realizing this when I am away from it and yet in it. I grew up in (which you might think is a slow paced society) India, in a highly competitive, fast paced and an ambitious environment. When the resources are scarce, when there’s a collective family pressure and expectations, speed becomes a part of human body. But then there’s this spirituality, collective struggles and respect for elders that makes you grounded. There are relationships and friendships that flourish because of collective struggles. It’s only after coming to North America another fast paced competitive environment, I can see how that competitive society of my birthplace had shaped me. The art of sitting still has been an ancient practice of the Himalayan monks and many spiritual gurus in India. This fast paced North American ambitious culture is finally connecting me to my roots, both physically and internally by teaching me the value of sitting still.
I was introduced to art of sitting in my one year coaching course. As students we were assigned a practice of sitting still for 30 minutes every day, just focusing on our breath and observing all thoughts and letting them go. This was a huge task for me, I thought! It was tough in the beginning to not identify with thoughts, but soon my whole body was thirsting for it every day like water or food. Soon, I started getting insights and new ideas. It allowed me to set intentions for the day and weeks to come. And then take the desired action to make that intention come true.
I love travelling, and I have had good fortune to travel the world with my husband. To make sense of those travels and to do make something from them requires the art of stillness.
What intentions would you like to set by practicing stillness? Give it some thought?
In his video, Pico Iyer encourages us to practice the art of stillness.