These past few weeks I found myself being caught up with so many things and running around yet having had nothing accomplished.
Also with everything wrong happening in the world, its easy to fall into despair and get into the mindset of, “What’s the point!”
But your happiness, your joy, your peace is precisely the point.
If only more people thought peace is the whole point, and not war, not winning, not proving.
So anytime you feel, “What’s the point”, know that you being at peace with yourself is contributing to something positive for the world.
You are not minute. You are a whole world.
Anyway, my heart has been urging me to quieten down and simply be.
To make a return to self every time I feel I am drifting away.
And somehow it also seems to give me instructions on how to do it.
So today, I want to share that.
This a bit long than my usual newsletter, but kindly breathe and read it slowly.
This will be my practice for this week, or rather this month (could also be for life).
It is about the practice of sitting down.
Of learning how to sit.
Are you good at sitting?
And I don’t mean posture — though posture matters too.
I mean: do you know how to simply sit down and just be?
Or to sit and do your work… without avoiding?
If we come back to the basics of it all, I’ve been realizing how important it is to learn how to sit.
To sit and do your work.
To sit and write.
To sit and read.
To sit and pray.
To sit and paint.
To sit and simply be.
Instead of filling every moment with things other than what is truly important.
And this is not easy.
You could say I am a terrible sitter.
Every time I decide to sit down, a hundred other thoughts appear.
For example, this morning I sat down to write in my diary.
In between, I opened my iPad.
Then I started writing something entirely different.
Then I opened Amazon to order something I had forgotten.
And suddenly it occurred to me: I was supposed to be writing my diary.
In a way it is our ego, our lesser self, trying to avoid facing our true self, our true calling, our true intent.
It would rather do the dishes.
Scroll.
Clean the house.
Call a friend.
Watch a show.
Anything, but sit down.
Sometimes you might even think,
“Why the hell can’t I just sit for a while?”
You’re not alone in this.
This is simply how the mind works,
unless we consciously see ourselves avoiding ourselves
and the work we’ve been put on Earth to do.
How much we avoid ourselves and keep running,
even while saying we want to face ourselves, is astonishing.
At first, avoidance feels like relief.
It feels less scary than doing the work.
Less scary than taking responsibility.
There’s temporary comfort.
But not sitting has a cost.
After a while, avoidance becomes painful.
You feel as if it is slowly sucking the joy out of your life.
There is always a constant background ache of that unfulfilled life.
The hum of a life not being fully lived.
And avoidance, at the heart of it is often just fear.
Procrastination is also fear.
And fear means that you’re secretly unsatisfied.
I cannot say what is the perfect anti-dote to this,
But for now, I can tell you this:
Learn to sit.
Because to sit means you’re willing to stop avoiding.
To sit means you’re ready to listen.
To sit means you’re coming to terms with your devotions.
So let us learn how to sit.
Here are some tips that may help:
Step 1: Shrink the Duration
Table of Contents
Right now your brain thinks:
“Sit = long, heavy, effort.”
So make it light.
Start with 20 minutes.
Not 2 hours.
Not even 1 hour.
Just 20.
Set a timer.
During that time, your only job is:
Stay seated.
Do your work.
Even if you do nothing else but simply sit, that too is progress.
Step 2: Make a “No-Movement Rule”
When the urge comes:
“Let me check my phone.”
“Let me get water.”
“Let me just quickly…”
Stay.
Observe the urge and say,
“Oh. There you are.”
Urges rise and fall within 60–90 seconds.
If you don’t immediately act on them, your brain slowly learns that discomfort does not require escape.
Step 3: Remove Friction Before Sitting
Before you begin:
Keep water beside you.
Keep your notebook open.
Put your phone in another room.
Close the door.
When your environment is ready, your mind will have fewer excuses.
Step 4: Practice “Anchor Sitting”
If the work feels too heavy, start with just this:
Sit.
Hands on lap.
Back straight.
Breathe naturally.
For 5 minutes.
No mantra.
No forcing thoughts away.
Just sitting.
It is like strengthening the root before the tree grows.
Even if you did nothing but sit, that too counts.
Sometimes we avoid sitting because sitting brings us face-to-face with ourselves.
But that is where clarity lives.
Step 5: Accept Boredom
This is so important.
Our modern brains are addicted to stimulation.
Constant feeding. Constant noise.
No wonder our nervous systems are rarely relaxed.
When you sit, notice how your brain will scream and protest:
“This is boring.”
“This isn’t working.”
“What’s the point?”
Trust me, it is working.
Hear those voices.
But don’t follow them.
Boredom is often the doorway to creativity and learning.
Most people never cross boredom.
Learn to sit and cross that boredom bridge.
Sitting Is a Skill
You don’t master it by force.
You train it like a muscle.
Even if you only stare at the page.
Even if you feel restless.
Even if nothing brilliant happens.
Let it be.
The practice is remaining seated with intention.
The practice is to sit through the discomfort.
To sit through the excuses.
The practice is to sit and stop rushing.
The practice is to sit and quiet down,
so you can live more fully and authentically.
Slowly, as we learn to sit,
we will learn to stay
and one day
there will be no need of returning back to yourself,
because you will always be there with you.
xx
Journal Prompt of the Week
What am I running from when I refuse to sit?
Blog Post of the Week
Quote of the Week
One from Others
Leap and the net will appear
— Julia Cameron
One from me
Learn to see each day as a separate life.
You Might Also Like:
Leave a Reply