The gift of a calm mind

A calm mind has the power to choose an adequate response in every situation. A calm mind can hold focus even when it meets external pressure or crisis situations.

However that is not all, a calm mind can easily access creativity and intuition and thus support innovation. Any calm-minded person is easy to work with.

The calmest person is the most powerful person

A sharp-minded person who knows how to keep inner calmness is the one who leads his/her inner domain and masters any situation. Such a person has silent power.

How is this possible?

People who worry and get stressed tend to lose their attention. They can't focus when distractions appear. And distractions around us are endless from the news to daily background noises (be it in open offices or in our homes).

When your mind wanders elsewhere (travels with other people's talk or is fascinated by the news story that plays on your TV screen) you miss opportunities in front of you. In such moments you don't hear what the person in front of you is talking.

The same equally applies in the case of daydreaming or worry. Your mind is occupied by your inner processes instead of being present.

As a result of your mind being elsewhere, you simply fail to benefit from situations laid in front of you.

In nature, being present and possessing the silent ability to observe keeps us safe. In offices, we also need such intrapersonal skills.
 

 

Noticing demands being fully present.

Noticing is easy when your mind is calm and well. However, noticing opportunities becomes impossible when you deal with your own worries, stress, anxiousness or fantasies.

Let's illustrate it on the physical body level – when you feel a strong toothache or a headache, you can't enjoy the sunshine, good music or sleep calmly.

Stress and anxiousness cause inner aching. Such ache equals loss of being fully present.

Having a calm mind just doesn't happen.

Having a calm mind isn't a gift. It is a result of training your inner domain and letting go of different distractions that occupy your mind.

The problem isn't the action around you. The problem is your mind that loves to comment on what it hears, sees, and is involved in.

Until you react to everything you are always one step behind. The brain researcher David Eagleman from the Baylor College of Medicine has stated, "When you think an event occurs it has already happened."

He proved that unless you are fully present (aware of your awareness), your ability to notice what happens lags about 80 milliseconds behind actual events. An untrained mind misses often what matters.

A calm mind is a present mind, thus it can take advantage of opportunities.

An easy way to invest in calming your mind is just a click away from you.
 

HOW TO CALM YOUR MIND?

Most humans constantly dwell in their emotions and thoughts and those run in an 'autopilot' mode. They never pause for silence and what you don't look you can't find.

We are extremely used to listening to noise around us and within our own minds.

Is your train of thought running and repeating what it has heard of or being involved in? What did she say? What did he precisely mean?

If you don't understand something ask right away! No matter what you think later you never know what was the other person's intention. While you felt bad, she could have meant well. While you felt a critical remark, he just provided an alternative solution.

It is inevitably your own inner reactivity that sets a filter for how you hear things.

Let go of the past

Our thoughts are based on what we know. Even our worries and imaginations are based on what we have heard. If all those points were valid then, are you sure they are valid now?

Remember, the world around us is in constant change. Nothing out there is permanent.

The only permanent level is consciousness and it is silent. Consciousness needs silence to appear.

Our constant inner action slips over any conscious pauses that appear as we are often frightened of inner silence.

Reality is, calmness never bites. It contains no danger to our existence as it is the essence of our existence.

Our thoughts are afraid of silence, as they need to stop for it. All worry is a mental process combined with emotions and fears.

Inner peace has no worry. No stress. No anxiousness or fears. It just is.

Calmness in nature exists always, we just need to stop and listen to it. The calmness of mind demands mental pause. It demands an emotional pause. You can't imagine calmness.

The good news is, you can drop your inner noise and experience it!

One of the easy ways here is to find external calmness and let it sink in. In this video, there is an example of how to do this.
 

When you stand in silence, you need to give up everything besides being there and noticing silence.

Once silence around you meets silence within you, you just need to be aware of it. No other action is needed. Just experiencing it and being present. When you do that, you can start noticing the beauty of calmness.

You aren't your emotions or thoughts. You are a human being.

We often slip over being and become human doing.

Silence or calmness of mind is the essense of being human.

In the essence, you are consciousness – you are your inner calmness.
 

 

SEEK THE SILENCE!

When you have the power to become silent inside at will, you find the ability to enjoy the serenity.

Take a moment during this holiday season and seek a calm environment, like wild nature. Go there and experience silence. Let it restore your wellbeing. It doesn't cost a thing besides your own willingness to surrender to silence and enjoy its beauty!

In the wild nature, almost all evenings and nights, especially during the winter are silent or at least have long silent pauses. Notice those!

We need to value silence also in our daily life and modern workplaces. From silence creativity and insights appear.

We need more calm homes and offices, it is the inner calmness that allows us to be well and thrive!

It is inner calmness and the ability to use awareness that allows to notice where our focus is. ... and if our focus is influenced by outside events, a calm mind firmly restores it without giving in to inner reactivity.

Our constant reactivity within our mind leads to stress and from there to burnout as we so often forget to enjoy a silent pause. During free time or a holiday, don't seek constant action. Take time for a silent pause. Prolong such a pause.

In nature, silence always is, it is you who need to pause for it. Similarly, you need to pause processes within your mind and become present, this enables you to notice silence within you.

Silence tolerates noise; it knows it isn't the noise. The noise never corrupts or spoils silence. However, constant noise tends to corrupt your mind. Unless you have trained it to tolerate and deal with noise and stay serene.

CONCLUSION

Take time to restore your inner calmness by establishing active contact with silence.

I recommend you schedule into your calendar some silent time during your days off work. If needed, set an alarm for it!

And if you can prolong that silence, take more time for it. Allow it to restore your inner wellness. Once you notice the value of it, we are sure you will book a silent time for every day.

I start every day with a silent half-hour or hour as it empowers me to deal with daily challenges later on.

I have always benefitted from being the calmest person in the room! I am sure you can benefit from it too!

Inner calmness is a human superpower, to a person who acquires good intrapersonal skills it empowers self-mastery. The mastery to always be the calmest person in the room.

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Blog post text and photos by our Managing Director Kaur Lass