How to Find Your Answers Within

This is a summary of my latest video.  If you’d rather watch that, you can do it here.

I’ve had a few people ask me how to find your own answers, so I thought I’d answer that in this video.  

How do you actively go find them?  Well, you have to get still.  I don’t mean motionless here.  I mean get your mind still.  Most of us live with a LOT noise in our heads from both external sources and our own minds.  Any other list-makers out there?  I know you’ve heard the phrase “I can’t hear myself think.”  That’s what I’m talking about.  We have to get that noise to quiet down, so we can hear our still small voice inside.  That is where we find our answers.  There are probably an infinite number of tools to help us move into stillness, and I can help you find many others besides the ones mentioned in this post, but for the sake of your attention and my ability to go on for hours about this topic, we’ll just talk about three fairly simple tools.

Probably the very easiest way to get still is by focusing on the breath.  Did your mom ever tell you to stop and take 10 deep breaths before reacting to a situation?  I know mine did.  On the surface, you might think this practice is just to keep you from saying something you’ll regret or getting caught up in the drama of a situation.  That’s certainly part of it.  Breathing deeply for even a short time calms the nervous system and does help you respond, rather than react.  But, it does something else, too.  It quiets your mind and brings you to stillness.  When you’re counting those breaths, you can’t really get through those lists running through your head.  You’ll either lose track of the lists or the breath.  If you’re someone who thinks they can multi-task (it isn’t real, by the way), or counting breaths doesn’t give you enough to do, try thinking “Breathing in, I know I’m breathing in.  Breathing out, I know I’m breathing out.” 

Another way to get still that is pretty simple is to walk barefoot.  This may be my favorite way to get still.  I try to do this every single day, and I like to use different surfaces.  My preference is to walk outside in the grass, the sand, the dirt, or even the mud.  I’ve even hiked down a rocky clay arroyo in New Mexico with no shoes!  The experience makes you slow down, because you have to pay attention to where you are putting your feet.  This brings you present very quickly, so you are in the now and getting still – even while you’re moving.

The last tool we’ll talk about today is one that I use before I host a call, attend a yoga class (or start my own practice), or even sit down to write this post.  I ask myself “How am I feeling?”  Then, I pay attention to how my body is feeling.  I notice where I’m tight and try to release those areas, where I’m sore and breathe into those areas, and how I’m breathing.  I also think about how I’m feeling mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.  

No matter which one of these practices you use, you can’t help but become more still.  That’s where the magic comes in, and it’s where you will find your answers.

Let me know which ones you try, which ones worked, and which ones just didn’t.  We’re all different, so what works well for me might not be the best for you.  And, that’s okay.  The important thing to remember is that we can all find tools that will move us into stillness and help us find our own answers within.