Finding Stillness Amid Chaos

As I write this, I feel as though I’m buried in commitments. I am working on finishing up projects so I can close my interior design business by projected year end and I am simultaneously teaching classes for Ohio University’s online Interior Architecture degree program. My intention is to be in a place of having more time to dedicate to sharing mindfulness practices with others as well as prioritize my own self care.

In this place of seemingly not having enough hours in each day, my own yoga practice appears to be the simplest thing to let go. But it’s during these periods when things seem the least manageable, that mindfulness practices are most important. Several times each day, I remind myself to stop, close my eyes, and just breathe.

In the busyness of our daily lives, we can become so preoccupied with the outer world that we lose touch with ourselves and with the stillness, the awareness that is within us. 

When we allow our identity to be separate from this inner awareness, we are less equipped to solve problems and to be discerning about all of the information coming at us. Eckhart Tolle says in Stillness Speaks “True intelligence operates silently. Stillness is where creativity and solutions to problems are found.” 

Even within the noise and chaos of our lives and the world around us, we can become aware of the stillness, the inner space of consciousness. Find a few moments to really look at a flower, gaze at the sky, or simply close your eyes and follow your own breath. Begin to pay attention to the space, the stillness between and around your thoughts. The more you practice mindfulness this way, the easier it will be to recognize this stillness and allow it to grow within you.