I used to have an assumption that sitting in silence was a withdrawal from my everyday life, relationships and work. So I didn’t want to do it.

Yes, it definitely appears that way on the surface.

But I discovered the exact opposite.

What really happens is that as you redirect your focus to your body and allow your mind to settle INSIDE your body, your senses and awareness of yourself and the world around you are actually magnified.

When you develop the muscle memory of what it feels like to LIVE INSIDE your body with your eyes closed, you discover that your senses are heightened as you live your life, eyes wide open.

You see and hear clearly, tastes and smells are distinct and feelings are pronounced.

You notice the broad strokes and subtleties all at the same time.

When you include YOU in your awareness, you become more a part of your world.

I invite you to think spatially for a minute. If your mind has a chronic habit of wandering into the past or future, are you in the room you're in, aware of yourself and your surroundings?

Likely, no.

Your senses are muted because your thoughts of the past or future have taken up a significant part of your awareness.

Before we adopt some kind of quiet practice that allows our bodies and minds to connect in the same location and time zone - here and now, we are in some way withdrawn from ourselves and the world around us, in this moment.

We’re not living inside our bodies and we’re definitely not in the room.

This disconnect over a sustained period of time has a detrimental effect on our lives, our health, our relationships and our work.

But because the majority of us are living this way and we blindly accept it as normal, it’s uncomfortable to choose differently and be open to discover a new way to live.

Committing to daily quiet practice allows you to have a deeper engagement with life.

If there’s a withdrawal, it’s from any resistance you may have to what’s happening in this moment…in this moment…in this moment.

Eliminating the burden of resistance allows you to hold the space for the life within and around you…

…as it is.

Life unfolds and you take full participation in all of it - joy, pain and everything in between.

This isn’t easy…but as Joseph Campbell says:

“I think that what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonances with our own innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive.”
”

— Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth

So the question to ask before starting a quiet practice is:

Am I prepared and willing to be more engaged with ALL of life?

When you take the next step, you’ll discover over time that the fulfillment and aliveness you’ve been striving for is literally just behind your eyes AND under your nose.