Stillness 101

The basic idea: My friend Molly Tschang—creator of Say It Skillfully—reacted to one of my many "stillness" posts and texted me to suggest that I do a longer piece explaining what I mean and how you might actually "be still".

Molly, this is that piece.

Stillness, to me, means clearing your head.

It means being quiet and emptying your mind of thoughts, so that actual, highly valuable insights have room to get your attention.

It entails shifting from a fire hose of chatter in your head to a single, beautiful truth.

And sometimes it simply means doing absolutely nothing, so that you can recharge.

"Be still and know."

A bit more background: To achieve a dramatic shift in your state of consciousness, there are two basic strategies. You can either unload stimuli (i.e. be still) or overload stimuli (i.e. go skydiving or whitewater rafting). I use both approaches.

The photo at the top of this issue is of a stream at the foot of a mountain above the town of Park City, Utah. I took it this past Monday afternoon, just before I settled down to sit by the rushing water and be silent.

In the woods above that stream, I've also ridden my mountain bike so fast that there was no room in my brain for any thought except: stay alive!

Other strategies I've employed to clear my mind include:

  • Hiking alone in the woods

  • Juggling

  • Counting the duration of my breaths

  • Gazing into a fireplace or campfire

  • Rock climbing

  • Kayaking into the middle of a body of water and simply sitting there

  • Attempting to draw something

None of these is right or wrong. They are simply tools to withdraw from the habit of talking, talking, talking in your head and/or with other people.

Why do you want to take a break from that sort of chatter?

It's easy to get stuck in thoughts and opinions that simply aren't true. The vast majority of people think they are self-aware, but actually aren't. They think they are seeing the truth, but they are not.

Very often, I have been such a person. The price of such self-delusion can be very high. I've learned that stillness is a path to more accurate perceptions. Why? Because when you stop trying to justify the same incorrect perception in your head, you open the door to what might be a more accurate sense of reality.