LISTEN TO YOURSELF

BY ALLYSON J S VOLPE

There is so much blaring noise in today’s world. It comes from our phones and computers, our social media accounts, the radio and tv. There is always some dictate available that is telling you how to live your life or what practice to do for a guarantee of happiness. The consumer world is riddled with things that are designed to distract our minds, offer complete escapism and de-rail us from our balanced selves. It is no wonder our minds are on overload and we often feel stressed, ambiguous, anxiety ridden or unsatisfied. The only combat for this is to silence the madness.

The number one rule is to take time to be alone. We do this by actively committing a conscious practice of keeping our own company every day — and moments throughout the day — to find our reset button. Think of the animal world where wildlife are active at certain points of the day and then they spend time alone resting between times. You can begin your practice by finding an undisturbed place where you feel safe, relaxed and unobserved — this might be a quiet moment first thing when you awaken in the morning or behind a closed door of your office during the day. Depending on your space and time, your private place may be in your garden, in a side altar of your local church, or even within your car.

When we close our eyes, we close off something from the outer world. With deep, long breathing we let our breaths of release take us in to the present moment of our inner terrain. Sitting with yourself for a few minutes with conscious breath and training yourself to focus solely on this, you will gradually begin to feel a sort of state of equilibrium and your tension begin to reside a bit. You will know the feeling as it is lighter. It is a more peaceful feeling. There is a moment of rest. Trust that you will know it when it comes. We begin to arrive at an inner state of mindfulness where we simply sit with ourselves. Thoughts will come and go, but we gently release them and come back to our breath. Start with a sitting session of 10 minutes and see if you can gradually build this to 20 minutes a day.

Our mind is a powerful force that has a hard time turning off. But when we can re-train how we use the mind, we will have a completely different experience.