Still: It's Good to be Still...

If you think back to your childhood, you will likely at some point have been told by an adult to sit still, to stop fidgeting or even be patient. No doubt, at that time, those words were probably not what you wanted to hear! However, as an adult, these are sentiments you will rarely hear, but in many scenarios, it could be just the advice you need.

Fast-Paced Living

We now live life at a frenetic pace, with every hour of the day filled with somewhere to be. We have something to do, always, and with what seems like a million decisions to make. We might very well know that we need to carve out little pieces of time for ourselves to just be. To be still, to be quiet and to turn off. However, very often, that’s the rub. We might carve out the time and create an ideal situation – a glass of wine, a good book, a bath, but then find we cannot turn off our minds. It’s then that you realise that it’s not carving out the time that is the problem, so much as an issue with turning off the mental stimulation.

Fight or Flight

You may not realise this, but there are mechanisms in the body that can work against us. If you are constantly on the move, always doing something, always thinking, then the bodies sympathetic nervous system is working overtime. Over time, the body assumes that you are in a situation of danger, which triggers the response of fight or flight, which you have no doubt heard about. The hormone – cortisol floods your body in readiness for whatever emergency it faces. The problem comes when there is no real emergency or pending danger, but your body is constantly in a state of readiness.

Still – Calm the System

Ideally, we need to lead our lives in a way that allows the parasympathetic system a chance to calm. I.e., not be in a permanent sense of stress. To do, this you need to find ways to create proper downtime. Something that truly allows you to be still – in body, mind and soul.

It may take some time to discover what works best for you. Some examples are mindfulness, meditation, daydreaming, a creative endeavour, yoga. You are looking for something that doesn’t require too much energy to think about what you are doing, but enough that you can stop thoughts racing.

When people are alone now, they often fill the void by using smartphones or other devices. Next time you are in such a situation, why not try taking in the view; people watch and have time being still. Very often when we stop living on autopilot and take time to smell the roses, we live happier lives and truly experience the little moments.

Written by: I4C_Blog_Admin

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