Be still
A couple months ago I was teaching a lesson on emotional regulation to second grade students. We discussed the skill of going to a happy place in the midst of “BIG EMOTIONS” and using our imagination to gain information from our senses. What were we seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, and/or smelling? Is there a moment where you have felt a tangible peace? If so, what was that moment, what did you notice about that moment?
For me the idea of a happy place evokes a memory of when I had just stepped into my new found freedom as an adult. During the summer of “18” I was living/working at a residential surf camp in California and woke up early to spend time alone before the exciting chaos of camp life began. While not a skilled surfer at the time, I enjoyed paddling out past the waves to the stillness of the ocean. As I lay on my longboard, for a moment the whole world seemed to stop, the dolphins were playing within feet of my surf board; the sun glistened on the calm water; my body was still; my mind was still; and there was nothing “to do” other than just be. A feeling of peace enveloped me and the whole world suddenly felt open. I felt connected to creation.
Although I did not realize it at the time, there was an invaluable lesson to be found in my happy place. The impossible felt possible. I felt a sense of freedom-liberated. Life didn’t feel so heavy and difficult. Due to this profound blissful experience I have erroneously associated the ocean with freedom and joy. Even though I absolutely love certain beaches and areas of the ocean, it was the peace and connection, that evolved from the stillness, rather than the ocean that was so liberating.
Surrendering and stillness were previously rare occasions. I resisted the practice of “being still” even though I knew it was “good for me”. How could it be a good thing to trade my facade of peace- control and figuring things out- for a trust in silence, nothingness, or emptiness? Just the very thought of consciously choosing to be still was anxiety provoking. Further, after the stillness, my life only returned to the normal busyness and stress. Yet now, my experience of being still is quite different. I am able to freely enter into the practice knowing that I can trust my father God. The results are similar to my ocean experience- peace and freedom, but there is now something more- an empowerment to carry that peace and freedom back into the daily mundane life apart from that moment of stillness.
“Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 47:10)
When we understand who God is and how much he loves us, it is a joy to be still in His presence. Something powerful happens in the stillness. It is not simply that we quiet our body and mind and a feeling of liberation happens. Rather the feeling of liberation becomes true freedom from the weights of this world. Although, I am not as “free” in a circumstantial sense as I was when I was 18, my heart is free again to dream, imagine, and create. There is a divine exchange. As we surrender our fears and worries it allows the room for God to come in and give us what we need…whether that is comfort, love, direction, or something else. He is there waiting…waiting expectantly and eagerly for us to be still long enough to hear and receive.
Circling back to my first question. A time when you felt peaceful. For those of you who have experienced this, what have you learned from this moment that can transform your daily life? Do you experience a divine exchange, or do you experience something else? For those of you have have not experienced this profound sense of peace before, what is hindering you?
