In this meditation, I invite you to explore the gift of stillness and its importance within our contemplative practice.
Our lives are often filled with movement, activity and distraction. We can become so accustomed to this constant motion that we forget how to simply be still.
Within the Franciscan tradition, stillness offers us an opportunity to encounter ourselves, creation and the divine at a deeper level.
Beginning with the support of the earth beneath us, we gently settle the body and turn our attention towards the natural rhythm of breathing.
We then explore the tiny moments of stillness within each cycle of breath, the quiet space where the in-breath becomes the out-breath and the out-breath becomes the in-breath.
Through this simple practice, we discover that stillness is not something distant or difficult to reach. It is already present within us, waiting to be noticed.
Chapters:
00:00 – Introduction: Sensing into stillness
01:23 – Entering meditation with intention
01:44 – Allowing the body to become quiet
02:04 – Feeling supported by Sister Mother Earth
02:41 – Relaxing the shoulders, jaw and breath
03:13 – Entering sacred stillness
03:47 – Finding stillness within movement
04:15 – Turning awareness towards the breath
04:32 – Discovering the space between breaths
04:51 – Resting at the centre of the breathing cycle
05:30 – Following the breath into deeper stillness
06:02 – Feeling the spaciousness of silence
06:37 – Returning gently from distraction
07:02 – Let there be only you, the breath and stillness
08:22 – Returning to the natural rhythm of breathing
08:50 – Making stillness part of everyday life
09:17 – Stillness as a place of divine encounter
09:44 – Discovering compassion through stillness
10:00 – Returning awareness to the body
10:11 – Closing bell
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