What does it mean to Create Space?
Have you ever experienced a time when you noticed that you have not taken a good ol’ fashion deep breath? Have you ever noticed that your breathing was shallow? Do you ever find yourself running from one project to the next without any breaks? Do you ever find your energy drained at the end of the day because there is always something else to do?
Well, in this fast paced society, it is very common to experience all of these in a given day. Is it healthy? What do you think? Work, relationships, kids, bills, illness, income, cars, and housing are all daily entities that we must encounter and maintain. These are maintained through excessive work, caffeinated breaks, nicotine fits, and pressure from others. These pressures become stressful and the stress attacks the mind and body, resulting in anxiety, depression, heart issues, and illness. Stressors do not go away, but the way you handle and cope with them can lessen their intensity.
By just creating a little space in the day may help deescalate the tense feelings you experience in an average to above average workday. How do you create space and what does that mean? It only takes a few minutes a couple times a day to help deal with the stress around you and within you. We need to create space that incorporates stillness into our daily stress management diet.
And if you do not have a daily stress management diet, I encourage you to adopt one; it just might save your life and bring you some peace and happiness:) So, when you are moving from one place to the next, allow yourself to sit quietly for a minute or two. Pay attention to the stillness and the quietness of not needing to move to the next activity. Focus on your breath and allow yourself to take some deep breaths from your diaphragm. Notice the rise and fall of your diaphragm. Notice that when you breathe deep that you are not thinking of the past or future. You are in the present moment; the here and now, which helps your mind take a break. If you are stopped at a red light, notice how that stoppage time offers you an opportunity to explore the inner stillness. Allow yourself to create more intervals of space into your schedule where you can just relax your mind and become still. Just for a couple minutes, that’s all.
Our society does not take many breaks and will not give you breaks unless you create the break for yourself. Allow yourself to find more silence and stillness within yourself. Notice that space is everywhere; it’s inevitable. Once you find this stillness and space, notice how your thinking slows and how your mind is more calm. When we are still, we can actually find more clarity and purpose without being distracted.
Silence is where creativity is found. The body, not the mind’s racing thoughts, is a place where many doors may open up for you. Through creating space in the body, you may observe a unique feeling of understanding your true existence. Just think, there is even space between two neurons at the synapse, where there is an electrical or chemical signal emitted from one neuron to another.
