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A recent client asked a question about stillness in meditation, “you said meditation is stillness of the mind. I am never still in meditation. Something is always happening. What am I doing wrong?”
I hear the question of stillness of mind often in meditation discussions. There are various theories and techniques in meditation, what I share is my own perception and experience.
I have often said that meditation is stillness of the mind. What this really means to me is that my mind is still from any conscious thought. The days events, the supper that has to be cooked, the children that need attention, or the bills that need to be paid are not apart of the conscious thought.
Meditation itself – the process that occurs within the meditative state can be anything but stillness. It can be like a dance. Life itself is an energetic flow. Always moving. Think about the what you know about life. Breathe – it moves or flows. Blood flows. Your thoughts are always moving. Even the physical nature is movement – think of a river or a volcano. They are described in life as both still and flowing. They are one in the same.
Although referred to as a stillness, it is really an illusion of the conscious mind. You still the conscious mind. Meditation is more accurately described as stepping into the energetic flow. Stillness can be described as being in perfect harmony with all that you are. When thought of in that definition – stillness is movement. A harmonic balanced dance.
A teacher once shared with me that I do not do movement, I am movement. When I am within the flow of life, I am stillness and movement in the same breathe.
If you are dancing in meditation, you are in the flow of ecstatic stillness.
