By Carole Fogarty
Editor of Rejuvenation Lounge and facilitator of Women’s Rejuvenation Retreats:
Monthly Feature: I Dare You Try Something Different:
“You find stillness by not looking” Unknown
This month I am challenging myself, and you are welcome to join me, to simply stop, do nothing and be still for 15 minutes each day. No reading, no meditating, listening to music, eating or talking. Simply being still without a purpose. Yes, sitting, standing or lying still without a purpose.
After all how hard could “being still” be. Thousands of people, each year do it for 10 days straight at Vipsanna retreats.
Offer Stillness To Your Mind And Nervous System:
Sitting or lying “still” certainly does not automatically mean that your body and mind are instantly calm and relaxed on the inside. In fact, its quite the opposite (in the beginning).
When I started at the beginning of this month my mind complained vigorously. “This is boring, I’ve got things to do, get up, move, you haven’t got time to be doing this, at least give me a yoga pose or meditation to do”. Secondly, I witnessed close up just where my body was restless, fatigued and needing support.
Resting in stillness reveals, in a very honest way just how much activity we have going on inside of us. Endless rushing thoughts, mixture of emotions and feelings along with physical ailments of fatigue, exhaustion and stress.
Expanding your calm spot inside, I believe is one of the greatest gifts you can offer your heart and life.
Are you losing time?
I was inspired to stand still for 15 minutes each day after reading my local yoga centre newsletter. Suzanne the owner shared how rushed and stressed her life had become at one stage. Her years felt like months, months felt like weeks and weeks felt like days. Dr Geoffrey Millar gave her the prescription to sit still for one hour every day and do nothing until time returned to normal again. Which of course it did. Suzanne finished by saying not only did she get her value of time back again but so much more.
The Benefits:
Your heart with become tranquil.
Sitting or lying quietly undistracted for 15 minutes will activate different aspects of your nervous system and immune function. You’ll notice the mind become clearer and restless energies and emotion begin to soften and dissolve.
Even after 10 days now, some days I love it and feel the benefits whilst other days I’m totally frustrated for the entire 15 minutes. Either way I am going to stick with it, as I discover how to cultivate stillness (on the inside) whilst moving through life.
What Being Still Looks and Feels Like:
I’ve chosen to do my 15 minutes of “being still” between 2-00 and 4-00 in the afternoon. This is when my afternoon slump is likely to hit so I felt it was the perfect time to rest in stillness for a bit.
Anyway, here’s what I believe being still looks and feels like.
- Sitting or lying
- Seek nothing
- Do not anticipate what to do next
- Just be with yourself, feelings and emotions
- Feel and follow your breathe
- Let your thoughts come and go without engaging in them
- Take care of all emotions that arise. If frustration arises don’t chase it away. Take good care of it, observe it, feel it without letting your mind get worried about it.
- Gaze at a special object without describing it or thinking about it
- Closing your eyes is probably easier
Let me know if you will be joining me on this one, as I’m really interested in the different experiences we all face.
I’m reading a great book at the moment which has helped me greatly appreciate the wisdom of standing still. You may have read it already, its called The Miracle of Mindfulness
by Thich Nhat Hanh is a Zen Master
Thanks so much for reading my article, Carole.You are welcome to come back and visit my blog the Rejuvenation Lounge anytime or grab daily rejuvenation tips from me over at twitter.
译文:
你花时间去静默吗？
来自卡罗尔·福格蒂
养生休息室的编辑，以及女性静休养生馆的发扬人。
每月专栏：尝试不同体验
“闭眼体验宁静”——作者不详
这个月，我一直在挑战自己，也欢迎你加入我的行列。很简单，只要停下来，什么都不做，每天静静的待15分钟。不看书，什么也不考虑，不听音乐，不吃东西也不说话。就这样静静的没什么想法。坐着，站着，躺着，就这样什么也不想。
尽管“静默”很难，每年仍有上千的人花10天去维萨娜养生馆体验。
给你的心灵和神经带来平静：
静静的站着或躺下并不意味着你的身体和心灵就能自然而然的立刻平静，从内而外的放松起来。其实恰恰相反，尤其是在刚开始时。
这个月初，当我开始做时就老是想抱怨。“太无聊了，我得做点什么事，还是起来运动，我从没花时间做过这种事情，至少做做瑜伽或是冥想什么的。”第二次时，我感到身体疲乏，烦躁的部分开始慢慢好起来。
这样的静休直接的揭示了我们身体内部有那么多的运动：无尽的匆匆的思绪，情感与身体上的疲乏，压力，不适所带来的感觉混合起来。
在那里扩展你的平静，我相信那是一份给你身心最好的礼物。
你的时间正匆匆溜走吗？
读了当地瑜珈中心的简报后，我更有动力去每天静静站15分钟。瑜珈中心的主人分享了她曾经生活匆忙，压力到了一定程度。她每一年过得像一个月，一个月过得像一个星期，一个星期就像一天一样。杰弗里·米勒医生给她展示了怎样每天静站一小时，什么都不做直到时间到了为止。从那之后她结束了那种匆忙生活，重新得到了时间观念，甚至更多。
益处是：
你的心灵将会平静下来。
不受干扰的静静站着或躺着，只要持续15分钟，就能活跃你神经系统或免疫系统的各个部分。你能感到思绪更加清明，疲惫感也会被慢慢驱散。
10天以后，我甚至爱上了这种感觉，体验到了它给我带来的益处，尽管有些时候，我还会为那整整15分钟感到受挫。但无论如何我也会坚持下去，因为我发现平衡身体里的那股静流的诀窍。
静默的方式：
我在下午2点到4点时做15分钟的静默，那是我下午沮丧症就快发作的时间，这时静默休息下最好不过了。
以下是我对静默的理解：
- 站着或躺着
- 不想任何事
- 不想下一步该做什么
- 感受你自己
- 体验并跟随你的呼吸
- 放任你的思绪走出你的大脑，而不是强迫。
- 处理所有升起的思绪，如果有沮丧感，不要赶走它，好好处理它，观察，感觉，而不要担心什么。
- 盯着一个东西，但不要去描述或想它。
- 闭上眼睛或许会更轻松。
如果你也想加入我，请告诉我你的感受，因为我对我们面对的不同体验非常感兴趣。
我现在正在看一本很好的书，它极大的帮助我理解了站默的智慧。你也许已经看过了——由一行禅师所著的《正念的奇迹》。
感谢你们阅读我的文章，欢迎你们浏览我的博客养生休息室，每日养生资料就在催特服务。