Stillness is not about focusing on nothingness: It's about creating a clearing. ~ Brené Brown

Stillness is not about focusing on nothingness: It’s about creating a clearing. ~ Brené Brown

As usual, I am writing about what I am currently dealing with in my life and practice as a career and life coach for academics in transition. What is on my mind right now is mindfulness, particularly how to create stillness for yourself, in order to grow and move in your life from an inspired place. For those of you who are oriented to a more theoretical way of thinking, this can also be called the science of positive neuroplasticity.

The brain is not just some three-pound muscle that resides in your head; it may exist both inside your skull and through mind or consciousness, outside your head, too, in connection with the other minds around you. Mindfulness is about tuning into your own mind, and keeping your awareness on the present moment. I am often asked about “time management” and really that is another way of saying, “How to I deal with being overloaded?”

The surprising answer is “cultivate mindfulness” because it teaches you how to focus on just one thing at a time, and let’s you know what to do “right now, in this very moment.” It helps you get in touch with what is truly the next best step. Being still is about step one, just learning to be with your mind, by putting your mind in a restful mode that stops the on-going chatter. The next step is decreasing the negative aspects of your mind, and the third step is increasing positivity so that the mind can become an ally for you by building inner strength.

Today I want to give you ideas for increasing the stillness in order to hear the rest of the story in your mind. Many of you know the expression in yoga that the mind is like drunken monkey, jumping from branch to branch and never settling in one place. Many of you have also heard “sit still for at least 15 minutes a day” and for many busy people that feels like an impossible goal. So, let’s start smaller, with three simple actions that will help you develop focus. Pick something you do every day and turn it into a more mindful ritual.

  1. Pay attention to brushing your teeth. Do it mindfully, actually concentrating on the feel of the brush against your teeth and the flow from one tooth to another. It allows you to be more conscious of the beginning of your day.
  2. Pay attention to eating. You have to eat every day. Can you put away all other things that might distract you from what you are eating, newspaper, tablet, cell phone, and then concentrate on exactly what you are putting into your mouth. What is the texture of the food? Is it crunchy or soft? Does it taste good because it is fresh and ripe? This helps you become more present.
  3. Be grateful for those near you. Actually look at them with gratitude and hold them in your gaze. Be thankful for having those people in your life, and know that being here for each other is truly what our life is about. It’s a reminder that no matter what form the day takes, and no matter what happens in the course of the day, we have people to care about and love and people who care about and love us. This helps us with gratitude.

Each of these very small practices can help to still the mental chatter, remind us to focus on just one thing at a time, and to create the stillness in your mind. From this place of stillness, we can more easily answer the question, “What am I being called to do now?” Remembering what it feels like to focus on just one thing at a time will help you stay with the answer to that question.

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