Stillness Teaches Us How To Be Zen
When was the last time you were still?
I’m not talking stood-at-the-bus-stop kind of still.
But truly, whole body and mind still.
A lot of people think yoga is all about vinyasa flows and contorting your body into should-be-impossible shapes.
But actually, it’s just as much about stillness.
We need stillness in our yoga practice just as much as we need it in our everyday lives.
Stillness teaches us how to be zen.
Stillness at the start of yoga: how to be zen at the start of your day
Even in the most dynamic yoga class there’s always a period of stillness at the beginning.
You take time to check-in with yourself. How are you feeling physically? What’s the weather like in your mind?
The stillness draws you into the present moment – you have arrived, here on your mat.
You might also set an intention for your practice. (See my post on setting intentions here.)
How often do we rush blindly into the day ahead?
Tomorrow, can you bring a few moments of stillness into your morning routine?
Even if that’s just to check-in with yourself as you make your morning cuppa.
Stillness between yoga poses: how to be zen during your day
Yoga can often look like a seamless sequence of poses from one to the next.
But actually, there are moments of stillness in between each pose called transitions.
In a transition you look back at where you came from, and look forward to where you’re going next.
It’s an opportunity to let go of anything that may have “gone wrong” in the last pose so you can enter your next pose freely, without any limiting beliefs.
On a very busy day it can be easy to rush from one thing to the next without any sense of a “pause”.
You rush from a presentation to get to a doctor’s appointment – but you can’t stop thinking about that moment you stumbled – and so you miss most of what your doctor is telling you.
Even if it’s just on the bus as you transition from meeting to doctor, take a moment to be still – let go of the past, come back to the present moment, and look ahead at where’s next.
Stillness in yoga poses: how to be zen in difficult times
Perhaps the most testing moments of stillness on the mat are when we hold a yoga pose.
Our mind turns to how the pose physically feels – and let’s be honest, we always focus on the uncomfortable feelings!
Some of those feelings might fade away as the body adjusts to the pose.
Other feelings might be more persistent – but in our stillness we can try to understand why they’re there and what we can do to help.
Perhaps a strain in the shoulder would be made to feel better by using a block.
In life, our natural response to unpleasant feelings is to run away.
Can you respond with stillness instead?
Stillness can be scary. It forces you to stay with experiences that you want to avoid.
But maybe in your stillness you will find that they pass.
Or not.
Some thoughts and feelings are stubborn and don’t so easily pass. But it’s only in stillness that we can turn inwards and face them.
Are you really angry? Or are you actually upset? Or scared?
If you’re scared, what are you scared of?
Just like you reached for a block in yoga, can you do something about that fear?
Stillness at the end of yoga: how to be zen at the end of your day
Shavasana! The final resting pose in yoga.
But contrary to popular belief, this is not nap time!
It’s an opportunity to reflect on your practice – what will you take from it to carry into the rest of your day?
Just like we lie in shavasana at the end of a yoga class, we lie in our beds at the end of a busy day.
What can we be grateful for in our day? What did we learn from it? What will we take forward?
The strongest moments are in stillness
You might watch a yoga class and say that the greatest strength was demonstrated by the headstand.
I look at yoga and think that the greatest moments of strength are in the stillness.
Same with life.
Try not to measure your strength by how much you can fit into your day.
Your strength is in the moments you choose to be still.