Sourcing Stillness
So, I’ve got a piece of exciting news (I’m actually kind of squirrely with excitement – eeeeek!). To jump right to the point, I have recently joined the Faculty Development Team at the Co-Active Training Institute!!! (yes, the exclamation points are necessary). To say that I am BEYOND thrilled is an understatement. For the past two decades, as I’ve been coaching my clients and doing my own self-development work, I have unwittingly been prepping for this very experience. I know this at my core, and it feels incredible to have landed in this space.
Rest assured, I’m still doing my own coaching and training with my own company. AND, I now get to be part of the team that hires, supports and nurtures Co-Active coaches. I’m still in quite a bit of awe and gratitude and a bit of curiousity. Where will this take me? I guess I will find out ☺.
Now, here’s the thing: having taken on this part-time role in addition to my own work means that my schedule is more full than I’ve been used to. It’s full of great stuff, for sure; and it’s still full. For the past two weeks I’ve found myself organizing and re-organizing my calendar as I attempt to fit everything in and find a rhythm that works for my life.
I think I’m getting there. I still have quite a bit of control over my calendar. The flexibility is amazing. And, there’s a particular quality that I’m having to lean into to ensure that I don’t get overwhelmed or lose the aforementioned control over my days.
That quality is stillness.
I am having to very deliberately carve out pockets of stillness in my day.
Blocks of time where I’m not working.
Blocks of time where I’m letting my mind slow down.
Blocks of time where I’m just being.
The hallmark of still space, in my opinion, is the absence of distraction, the absence of movement (physical and mental) and the presence of quiet. It’s often as much an internal experience as it is an external one.
As I segued into my new role and added responsibilities to my existing portfolio of work, my schedule started to get unruly pretty quickly. Fortunately, I was able to see what was happening and give myself pause. Pause is another word for stillness. In that pause, I asked myself a few questions:
What do I want my schedule to be?
What are my non-negotiables?
Where can I be nimble and flexible?
What do I need to let go?
By asking these questions I gained clarity around what I needed to create, how I needed to be, what I needed to do going forward. And I realized afresh that stillness isn’t a luxury to be enjoyed from time to time. Instead, it is a necessity that we must include in our every day lives.
Stillness helps us to recharge.
Stillness helps us to gain clarity.
Stillness helps us to get grounded.
There’s a line from a hymn that often surfaces in my mind when my world starts spinning erratically for whatever reason. “Come and find the quiet centre”. It’s a gentle reminder for me to turn inward and source whatever I need from the stillness in myself. The first verse of this hymn ends with the line “Be at peace, and simply be”. The two lines in combination feel like a gentle call to the power of stillness.
What I know for sure is that when I heed this call, I’m able to live, work and play more meaningfully and more productively. When things are spinning in any way for you, remember to source stillness. Give yourself a window, however brief, to simply be. Let yourself breathe in the stillness; as you do so, trust me: your energy will settle, clarity will emerge and the road ahead will feel less daunting.