A few of my prior blog posts have touched on the topic of “Stillness” in different ways. But because it’s so valuable, I was called to write about it from a slightly different angle this week.
In the craziness of our lives, and with all the demands placed on our time and our attention, stillness can feel countercultural—even uncomfortable. And yet, the most profound clarity often arises not in the noise of action, but in the quiet moments in between.
Stillness is not the absence of movement. It’s the presence of awareness.
It’s in stillness that we begin to truly notice. We notice how much of our time is spent reacting rather than responding. We notice how much of our energy is drained by chasing things that may not even matter to us. We begin to observe, without judgment, the internal stories we’ve inherited—the programming that tells us who we should be.
From that awareness, we can begin to make conscious choices. And this is where The 3 Life Questions come back into focus:
- Am I living authentically, from my True Self?
Stillness gives us access to the inner voice beneath all the noise. When we pause long enough to truly listen—not to our fears or our conditioning, but to the deepest truth within—we find a compass. Living authentically begins with the courage to sit still and listen to who we really are.
- Am I cultivating meaningful relationships?
Stillness allows us to show up with presence. Not preoccupied. Not distracted. Just here. Fully. And it’s from this state of presence that meaningful relationships are nurtured. It’s in the quiet gaze, the unhurried conversation, the willingness to just be with someone without trying to fix or impress them.
- Am I making the world a little better?
You don’t have to be everywhere at once to make a difference. In fact, some of the greatest acts of service are born from deep stillness—from the space where wisdom, not reactivity, informs your next move. When you act from this grounded space, your impact carries a different quality: it’s more intentional, more attuned, and more lasting.
Your Challenge for the Week:
Each day, set a timer for just 3 minutes. Sit in silence with no goal other than to notice. Notice your breath. Notice the sensations in your body. Notice the pull to get up or distract yourself. Then… stay.
You might be surprised what finds you in the stillness.
A Final Thought:
Recently, a mindfulness teacher whose work I’ve come to appreciate, Cory Muscara, included the following poem in one of his recent emails. The poem is from the Zen teacher, Dogen. Cory presented this poem in his email under the caption, “The Imagery of Stillness.” Because it feels so aligned with this week’s blog post, I decided to copy it here, together with Cory’s observations about the power of this poem’s imagery:
Body like a mountain,
Heart like the ocean,
Mind like the sky.
“Imagine embodying that.
A body steady and grounded, unshaken by every passing gust.
A heart vast enough to hold all emotions, without collapsing under them.
A mind spacious, clear, and open—able to contain clouds of thought without being defined by them.
This is what true stillness reconnects us to.”