Use Still-Time as a Way to Relax and Find Yourself

In this article, I will first explain what still-time is, how it will benefit you and how you can use it.

What Still-time is

Many of us, for many reasons, feel we struggle with Meditation.

Maybe we think it would be against our religious beliefs, Or you may repulse the thought of listening to someone talking with music you can’t stand. Whatever the reason, still-time is the next best thing with all the benefits of meditation.

I learned it myself through the Reach Approach and it’s a simple technique to learn and doesn’t require any skills.

All still-time does is give you the time to set aside in peace and quiet, on your own with no distractions.

That means:

No mobile phones
No social media
No music
No kids coming in asking for a snack
No nibbling on a sandwich
It does not matter if your thoughts are racing and overwhelming. This is just time for you and you alone

The Benefits of Still-time

• A simple and free way to take time out and take care of yourself
• It can help you learn how to calm your racing thoughts
• Gives you the space to reflect on things and how it has made you feel
• Gives your brain a chance to reboot
• Improves concentration
• Increases productivity
• Helps you discover (or rediscover) your own voice
• Gives you a chance to think deeply and helps you problem-solve more effectively.

Tips to make still-time work for you

• Decide a time of the day where you won’t be disturbed. This could be first thing in the morning before everyone has woken up or lunchtime just after having something to eat.
• Find somewhere comfortable and quiet
• Try and do it every day, if not most days
• Whatever time of the day you decide, try and stick to it as a routine.
• When starting out, maybe just stick to five minutes at a time, just to get a routine going.
• When you have your routine, you can then start to increase your time to around 15 – 20 minutes.
• Use your stopwatch on your phone with a gentle, calming alarm on it that won’t ‘shock’ you out of your relaxation
• Try and switch off all your notifications and messages during that time
• What can help with that is having a notebook beside you for you to write down any thoughts that come to mind during this process.
• When you start to have racing thoughts just say to yourself, you will write it down later when you have finished.
• So, if I thought comes up just make a mental note that you will write it down when you finish.

To make this process even better you can try any of the following:

• Some relaxing deep breathing. I have a blog on different types of deep breathing here.
• You could just ask yourself a question before you start “what do I need to know?”.
• Have a journal handy for when you finish to write down anything that comes up for you during still-time.
• You could repeat in your mind an uplifting and encouraging statement that makes you feel good.
• This could be an affirmation or even just a word i.e. “Calm”, “Peace”, “I can be strong” or even a religious text.

That’s all it is.

It’s mainly about taking time out to allow yourself space and time for yourself. As we are so busy with life, and with our thoughts, we do not generally, allow ourselves that time.

Like with everything else it is about trying to do this for a few minutes daily so you can develop more of a habit and a routine. Give it a try, you never know what you might learn about yourself!

If you want to learn more about it, just follow these links on the Reach Approach website where the idea for Still-time came from. Still Time 1 and Still Time 2

Whatever you decide to do, try and stick to it. If it doesn’t work for you change it.

If you miss a day or two, that’s OK, just carry on.