Your Challenge Today:
Keep stillness inside of you.
By Bernadette Kathryn, LMT, IHLC
In the midst of movement and chaos,
keep stillness inside of you.
~ Deepak Chopra
Movement is automatic, the world turns, life goes on and time keeps moving tick tock. The action is not fast, and sometimes I don’t even notice that life is changing all around me other than the movement of the clock. Growing up in South, I was not particularly aware of the seasons of time … we had hot and hotter most of the time mixed in with humid and sticky. Then, when I moved to the North East ~ I became acutely aware of time in a much different way, the seasons. The seasons of time in a year are an everyday reminder that life is moving.
Another way that I am reminded of the movement of time is through children, I stay the same, and they just keep growing! It’s a challenge to deny our age when we look at our children. I like to think that I am still 25 years young and then I see my godson is already out of college and into his first job, wow! I look at the children that I used to hold every day while their moms were exercising and they are into or out of college already, how did that happen and where did the time go? It’s great to see these kids grow into real people, adults carving out their paths. I am amazed at what they are doing, the things they know that I don’t and what an inspiration to be around the hot, young, beautiful kids that are shaping our future. Sometimes I think I am a dinosaur, I have always been teased that I live under a rock and while it’s valid on some level I am challenged to keep up with the latest and greatest.
I have never been one that needed to be ‘in the know,’ I am selective of where I invest my time and energy. I enjoy reading a good book; I enjoy my friends, music, and nesting. When I moved to NYC, I realized that I needed blinders to be able to navigate the city and stay on track successfully. There are so many distractions here in the town and especially these days with our phone, tablets, 24-hour news, magazines, blogs, podcasts, TV, etc … our society is definitely on information overload.
How do we manage to keep growing and learning
while balancing the influx of information?
How can we keep moving and keep stillness inside?
I believe that we have to move, learn and grow to prevent becoming complacent and stagnant. I find it a challenge to sift through new information, digest what I need and keep stillness inside. In a world with so much stimulus, and I have learned to unplug, to edit and be selective with my investments of time and energy to preserve my peace of mind. I have accepted the fact that I am not the type to be ‘in the know,’ I am OK with that. I have a broad range of friends, each with their special interests and backgrounds ~ and ~ keeping up with my peeps helps me stay in the loop, even if it’s only a little. While keeping a routine for my life helps keep the stillness inside. My routine is my comfort, my safety net, my compass and my friends, my teammates and my family help keep me out of the dinosaur park!
My routine keeps me stable and provides the platform for me to support my Living Fit Lifestyle. My routine helps me keep stillness inside.
The seasons of time in a year are an everyday reminder that life is moving #LivingFitLifestyle Click To Tweet
For me, its more realistic to think of always returning to the stillness. My goal is to shorten the turn around time. The stillness is always there, I need only to breathe mindfully, into my low belly, to connect back to my stilness. This is the place where I am grounded and present, remembering that this one moment is most important.
beautifully said, thank you!
the best way for me to learn new things is to create a quiet environment where i will not have interruptions. i am not a multi-tasker and i can be easily distracted. knowing the best environment to grow and learn is my way of dealing with the influx of information. when i move think of mindfulness. i try to relax and go into the movements, paying attention to areas of tension. i do deep breathing techniques while exercising. these days when i move i think of how wonderful it is to be able to move without pain. this creates wonderful sense off stillness.
Wow — Debbie — thank you for your response. Mindfulness is a wonderful way to keep the stillness inside while staying present in your life. I am happy to hear that you are moving more freely with less pain.