cultivating stillness

[dirtylibrarian]

Something I've been thinking about a good deal lately, but haven't really blogged about is the idea of cultivating stillness.  I'm not sure where I first heard this particular phrase, but it has stuck in my head, and I try to use the idea of it when I am feeling anxious or fidgety.  Particularly in meetings where I am supposed to be behaving like an adult.

And now it is coming up more regularly and I'm finding I can relax better, exercise with less pain, and generally stay calmer, because when I find stillness, I can listen to my body and instincts better, too.

A quote I came across today made me think about posting on this topic:

We can make our minds so like still water that beings gather about us, that they may see, it may be, their own images, and so live for a moment with a clearer, perhaps even with a fiercer life because of our quiet.

--W.B. Yeats

Yes!

Theoretically, I've been trying to take up meditation too, but haven't gotten terribly far with it.  But clear, fierce quiet seems like a nice start.

Comments

[bookchick.livejournal.com]

I like that phrase "clear, fierce quiet".

[dirtylibrarian.livejournal.com]

Me too!