In Times of Silence

This is the quiet time of year. For some, winter can be a bit too quiet. Many animals are hunkered down for the season. Those that are still out and about, tend to move slower. You must listen just a little closer, a little longer to hear chatter of birds and other critters.

And what a gift, this quietness! It is in that silence that the soul beckons. We can listen to the lessons that nature gives us without any distractions. We learn to find peace.

While nature sleeps, we are awakened. Our senses and our imaginations are stretched, and to a greater extent, enmeshed in the stillness, hearing and seeing and feeling things we may have missed on a lively spring day.

In silence I find clarity, and so, when I’m stuck in my writing or otherwise creatively challenged, you’ll find me on a quiet trail, or sitting in my favorite chair with a view of the natural world. It’s where my ideas are birthed and my problems solved. My perspective is truer. I can look at the bigger picture. And, arguably, most importantly, I am able to connect to my inner wisdom.

Spiritual teacher and author Eckhart Tolle suggests this: “allow nature to teach you stillness.” Nature is the great teacher, the natural rhythms of the seasons bring many lessons. It is from the quietness of winter that spring flowers bloom, that the forest critters prepare to bring forth new life, that past seasons are laid to rest.

And just like in nature, it’s important to find that time each day for stillness. Stillness doesn’t begin and end with winter. Every day, at dawn and dusk, there is a changing of shifts between those diurnal animals of the day and the nocturnal ones that appear at night. And while a few prefer this twilight hour, every day nature finds time for quiet. Twice!

We all know that quiet time is important in our lives, and many of us don’t have (make) the time for it. I maintain that if you put aside the time, you may see just how important it is and make it a priority. So how do you accomplish this? How do you bring more stillness into your life? Here are some suggestions:

Schedule some time
My regular quiet time is in the mornings before the day’s activities begin. It’s the first thing I do after I feed the cats and make some tea. I like to greet the sun in this fashion. And then if I’m stuck on something, I find some quiet, usually on a walk in nature. You might find evenings work better for you, a brain dump of sorts.

Create a space
This is a space where you can escape to easily, somewhere in your home. A spare room or quiet corner is fine. Try different areas until you find one that brings you joy. My morning chair is the perfect spot for watching the sunrise. You can also use a regular morning walk for this purpose.

Turn off your devices
Enough said about that!

Just be – in silence
Call it whatever you want – meditation, prayer, connection, quiet time – doesn’t matter. The main thing is, it’s not a time for reading, or catching up on emails/texts/social, or watching the news (ugh!), although a nice warm cup on a cold morning is fine. A good amount of time might be just fifteen minutes although I try not to get caught up on those details. Do what you can, more is better.

Quiet your mind
Of course this is the whole idea and I have plenty of other articles on how you can accomplish this. You want to stay fully present, because when you start thinking about the past or planning for the future, that’s when you mind gets derailed.

If all this sounds like too much, just see what happens when you take a quiet walk or sit without any distractions. Just begin, and continue, and if you miss a day, begin again. It’s not complicated. You only need a few moments of time, no one is keeping score, and can’t lose.