In the early morning glow, a large buck leapt across my path and then turned to stare at me. I stopped in my tracks. Jaw gaping, I turned to see a doe and six younger deer in the golden grass to my right, completely still, completely silent.
When I had started my slow jog through the bird sanctuary minutes before, I was feeling grumpy and lumpy. In the single instant of encounter with the deer, my sleepiness and irritation dissolved. I suddenly felt awake, alive, present.
I was most struck by the stillness and silence of the deer — and the total peace that followed.
In our everyday lives, we’re almost always surrounded by external noise, almost always bombarded by internal dialogue, and almost always striving towards something. Most times we aren’t aware of this overstimulation and hyperactivity. Dropping into the “nothingness” of stillness and silence often feels deeply refreshing, and science tells us that it can be healing, all the way to on the cellular level.1
Since Monday morning, I’ve started to incorporate this lesson from the deer. In my own personal yoga practice and in sessions with clients, I’ve invited more moments to feel the peace that resides in complete stillness and silence. Here’s your invitation to join us. Stillness and silence are a powerful anecdote to the noise of the constantly-moving modern world. Pause like a deer with me at the top of this page.
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Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, “Benefits of Silence for Body and Mind,” Kripalu Blog (blog), https://kripalu.org/resources/benefits-silence-body-and-mind#:~:text=Just%20as%20noise%20triggers%20a,in%20the%20brain%20and%20body.
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