Moments of Stillness

– A Reflection –

When was the last time you had a moment just by yourself? When was the last time you enjoyed some moments of peaceful quietness? 

For most people, in the busy everyday life in between getting up, going to work, meeting up with friends, going to the gym or a Yoga class, coming home, watching TV and then going to bed before starting the day all over again, there doesn’t seem any time for these moments of stillness anymore.

I’m very fortunate to live on a beautiful island for a couple of months a year, surrounded by nature. There are jungle hills, so green and with such a density like I’ve rarely seen it in my life. My bungalow is situated just five meters from the blue and crystal-clear waters. It’s so peaceful here and life is very simple. Coming here always makes me realize that we really don’t need much to be happy. 

My days here start with the first rays of sunlight, doing my Yoga practice, then going for a morning swim and depending on my teacher’s schedule, I join him for his daily classes, workshops and retreats. As my days start early in the morning, they also end early at night. I’m living in nature and what I feel happens here rather quickly after you arrive, that you also start living with the rhythms of nature.

After spending a couple of months here beginning of this year, it was time for me to head back to Europe. Before taking that long flight, I did a short stop-over in Singapore. Already arriving at this huge airport was quite overwhelming: so many people, noises, chatter… the next days, when I was walking along the streets, I really started to wonder what this life here, the way people live, in huge concrete buildings, in constant movement and in constant distraction – what is it all for? What is the purpose?

Many people are so busy living their lives, achieving one goal after the next, working so hard to be able to afford their next vacation to take a holiday from their life, that they don’t even have time to ask themselves these questions of what the purpose of their life is?

For these questions to be able to even come up, you need to make room for them, to create moments of stillness in your life, a space within your busy life to just be with yourself where you can reflect, wonder, be curious… a space of discovery, of learning something new about yourself. It’s in these moments of stillness that you can truly connect to your inner self, to find out what your heart’s desires are and to see if you’re still heading in the right direction of this journey called life.

Author: Caroline Altmann