The Power of Stillness

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the power of stillness. I’ve been going through a long stretch of time feeling constantly overwhelmed and burned out recently but moments of stillness have really been helping me through this time. It might seem impossible when our lives are so busy and the world moves at such a rapid pace, but finding those moments to slow down, to sit and be still can add so many benefits into our lives. Stillness doesn’t have to look the same for everyone, there are different ways to incorporate it into our lives. Here are some of the ways I find moments of stillness and the benefits I’ve received from those moments:

Being a better listener by being present.

Being present in the moment, and not allowing yourself to be distracted by what’s going on around you makes you a better listener. When you are not focused on your to-do list, or what you are planning to say next in the conversation, you maintain all of your focus on the person speaking to you. That builds a better connection to the other person because they feel like they have your full attention. It helps deepen that relationship but it also prevents you from having those moments of guilt when you just realized you have no idea what the person you are talking to just said because you’re stuck in your own thoughts. 

Finding growth by making time for self-reflection. 

It’s hard to grow and change if we don’t take time to reflect on ourselves, on our lives, and on our past experiences. When we take the time to sit down without any distractions and let our minds wander we actually have a moment to think about how we feel with our lives, what we want to change, how we’ve changed, and what we want. Allowing our thoughts to run free can lead us to powerful realizations. It’s hard to analyze how we feel about a situation or how we feel about where we are in life if we don’t allow ourselves to take some time to sit down and think. 

Having a singular focus to help us perform tasks better. 

While many of us like to think that we are all the best, most impressive multitaskers, science says no. We’re all human beings, and the human brain can only focus deeply on one task at a time. If you are giving a project half your attention versus your full attention, you’re not going to produce work that’s as high quality compared to what you could do if it had your sole focus. While there are times that we have to multitask, taking the time to focus deeply on one task at a time gives your brain a break from constantly trying to divide it’s attention.

Finally, it’s a way to decompress. 

Now that I’ve been regularly trying to add stillness into my life, I am more mindful of it’s impact. I find that I can’t fully relax if I’m multitasking. I have to focus on one thing at a time, or I find my brain becomes too stimulated. This singular focus allows me to decompress from my day though. It’s a sense of relief, or a sense of freedom to only have to focus on one thing at a time when the world is all about trying to be the most eye-catching thing to distract you and get your attention. While sitting around scrolling on Instagram might seem like doing nothing, it’s not as relaxing for me as sitting alone with my thoughts, not forcing my brain to focus on anything. While these benefits can also be achieved through mindfulness and meditation, I find that the idea of starting those practices can be a bit intimidating for people, and finding moments of stillness in a busy day seems more accessible or at least less intimidating. 

How do you find moments of stillness in your life? Let me know in the comments!

Until next week,

Livvy