…continued from Becoming Aware 1:7 – Just Sitting
Our intention on the Quiet Corner path is to free our inner voice and move toward spontaneity and creative expression. But first it is important to create some structure, which will help our voice and encourage and support our endeavor. Having a structure will first ground you and then allow you to soar to new heights.
We will be returning to four key elements in this Quiet Corner process:
- Sitting and breathing
- Writing things down
- Talking to someone else
- Moving our bodies
Falling Water
For the moment, let’s look at just one of them: sitting and breathing. While all four activities are centering ones, this one helps us to center all the rest. This one will teach us the most about just listening. It is the simplest but certainly not the easiest step. But it is the easiest to ignore. And this is the one that we absolutely must not ignore.
The best way to not ignore this exercise is to set up a structure for it. Schedule it into your day. Create a Quiet Corner in your home. Plan it as you would any other activity, or you may never do it. If you don’t set aside some time to sit quietly and breathe, you will find that this time will become filled with something else. Even once you know how beneficial it is to sit and breathe, don’t assume that you will do it without scheduling it in.
Whenever you are off-center, unbalanced, or too involved with the noise in your head, consider whether you have been delinquent in setting time aside to just sit.
This is likely the case, so make a point to schedule it. Or, before long, you will be far away from your true self and into the obsessions and delusions of your ordinary mind.
So do yourself a favor and set some time aside for this most centering of activities. Once a day, twice a week. Structure it so that it is doable, and then do it. As you read this, bring your attention to your breath. As you breathe in, be aware that you are breathing in. As you breathe out, be aware that you are breathing out. In. Out. Simple. Centering.
To be continued…
from Just Listen – A Guide to Finding Your Own True Voice
[…] …continued from Becoming Aware 1:8 – Centering […]