Still chillin' after all these years

Walking the dog in the forest early this morning I noticed something remarkable. Stillness.
The forest was 'still'. I was unable to see any movement or hear any 'forest' sounds. Even the sound and the sensation of the wind was absent. I could clearly feel one thing: how still it was. I considered that even after so many years the forest still chills. In my experience being still and being relaxed are two very different things. Both create their own distinct senses of well being. The difference between them is like understanding there is something like a holiday as you leaf through a vacation brochure and really noticing the space your holiday destination lays in whilst you're there.

Many years ago some friends and I drove to a picturesque sea side town and arrived at about 2am. We walked to the beach in the moonlight and the first thing we noticed was the quiet and the stillness. It was an all pervasive stillness. It was beautiful. We felt we responded automatically to this stillness around us by becoming still ourselves. It was like you move from being 'sat' in your head or body sensations to noticing more from a very comfortable 'stillness'. The experience was as if all things were touched by this because we are all still inside of us. We also recognised that if being still can be so quickly noticed then we can notice ourselves being still more often.

To experience being still now, remember a time where you found yourself becoming stiller.
This may have been the result of a place or person you were with or activity you were doing.

• Notice your experience of stillness.
  

• Where does stillness exist?

• As you sit still, do you notice if stillness has a beginning or end?

• Are you quickly still or is it a gradual process?

• What do you notice as you sit still for longer periods?

• Do you begin to close your eyes?

• Is stillness stiller now?

Play with this. Discover if certain words or sensations or memories are a trigger for you quickly being still.
If you would like to associate words with being still then simply do so. Once you are still you can say words or phrases to yourself that accentuate stillness. In the future when you want to be still you can repeat the words or do whatever you did originally that worked so well.
Enjoy being still.

Thanks for reading
Jens