Metaphysical Practice: Stillness Speaks
Cultivating stillness within ourselves creates opportunity to expand from the stories that feed our limiting beliefs, subjective and intersubjective perceptions, and ways of knowing we believe to be real and true. Connecting to spirituality through stillness, letting go, and listening to ourselves is an embodied practice that feels somatic and aesthetic in nature. I have been finding spiritual meaning through the peace that comes with being still. To access this formless abyss of nothingness, I have to let go of what does not serve me, and drop into the sensations of my body. It is incredibly difficult at first; to become aware of ourselves and somehow reside with the emptiness of mind. Our modern world fights against this, destroying our discernment, and continually bombarding us with other people’s construed ideas. Stillness is embracing the idea of not knowing and not being in control.
What about entertaining the idea of spirituality as the sum of all metaphysical experiences, expressed through energy and emotion? A spiritual experience feels interwoven with the physical and physiological systems of the body. An entire ecosystem of its own, created from the elements of Earth, and holding universal knowledge within every cell. Meaningful somatic experiences can expand knowing and the essence of collective consciousness. To be in relationship with expansion, is to practice stillness and listen for wisdom, knowing, and connection to what cannot be seen.
Being still allows us to connect to the invisible forces that influence transformation and change. The microbiome is a great example of a powerful invisible force that influences every aspect of our lives. The microbiome living on our nose is completely different from the microbiome living on your cheeks, or under our eyes. Can you imagine the complexity of our microbiome on its own? It is the longest relationship we have, an invisible diverse ecosystem constantly in motion and evolving. This dynamic being is a microcosm to the larger invisible processes of the forest, the Earth, galaxies, and beyond.
Connecting spiritual experiences to the physiological sensations of the body helps me embrace the multidimensional being that I know I am. This idea of being quiet and calm somehow moves me toward an expanded way of knowing that I embody outside of my mental and physical form. Embracing stillness stirs up emotions and creates change. Most aesthetic experiences (ah-ha moments) happen spontaneously, especially when we let go and be still. I am becoming more comfortable with stillness; it somehow feels closer to home. I see life as a sweeping and spectacular abstract creation with infinite interpretations and meanings. If we slow down and be still, then we can see the tapestry, the multitude, and complexity of being.
Britt
