New Ways To Go

The other morning my feral cat Luc and I lingered in bed for an extra 15 minutes.  The alarm had gone off, but we didn’t budge.  It was time for quieting my mind, which is part of my daily practice.  Now, I don’t always do this first thing upon waking.  It’ s more apt to be minutes I snatch from my busy schedule . . . whenever.

This peaceful practice has been beneficial to me as a passion explorer and entrepreneur.  By creating space for myself during the day, I not only find calm but open myself up to messages from the Universe and knowing myself better.  The key is to stay in the present moment.  Establishing your own corner of the Universe is an important step for achieving the potential of your own success. 

The windows were open and here in the East, we were having an unusually warm day for this time of year.  The only sounds I heard were the faint, distinctive ones made by an owl and a woodpecker.   (You know how wonderful it can be to have quiet when you have a musician for a boyfriend.) 

It’s not only the endless cell phone chatter, traffic or construction sounds that get to us during the day.  It’s the conversations that replay themselves in our heads, the ideas that pop into our minds, the shoulds and don’ts, the idle gossip and news we listen to that barrage our senses with noise.  It’s the demands we place upon ourselves and those placed upon us by others.  And what about TV, emails, ipods and social media.  Too much noise and distraction.  It’s exhausting.

So I lay in bed reveling in the silence.

We all need a break from the frantic pace of life.   We need our own corner of the Universe in which to relax. This is a place where you, and only you, go to be with yourself, to be quiet, to let your mind rest and be still.  Do you have such a place?

Here are my favorite places and suggestions for places to go when you seek silence and to calm your mind from hectic activity: 

Spend some extra time in bed, first thing in the morning.  Avoid thinking about the past or the day ahead.  Stay in the moment. 

Prepare a warm bath and soak.  If you feel wiped out at the end of a long, hard day, let your muscles relax and enjoy a wonderful repreive from all the noise in your life.

Sink into your favorite reading chair or lie on a comfortable hammock.  Close your eyes.  During the day, I take one or two breaks from working at my computer by spinning my chair in the opposite direction of the screen and closing my eyes.  It’s comforting to retreat to a place that can be quiet and still, if only for a moment.  Just by closing your eyes, you can create your own corner of the Universe. 

Take a walk in the big outdoors.  Nothing seems more inviting to me than spending time with nature.  What could be more serene?  While I find walking to be a relaxing part of my daily routine, it boosts my energy level throughout the morning. 

If you’re fortunate to have a beach near where you live, drive there, inhale the sea air and listen to the waves lap the shore.  To me, there is something nurturing about being near water.  Yesterday on a break from work,  I packed a lunch and drove to my passion explorer’s corner of the Universe — a park alongside the Connecticut River.  It’s early in the season so no one was there.  I found a place for myself to sit and . . . a place to find myself, as well. 

If you feel like sharing one of your favorite places, I’d love to hear about it.

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