Is the daily grind eating away at your soul? Do you find yourself longing for a new day only to wake up and fall into the same patterns? It sounds like something needs to change. If you can relate, it’s time to learn about the benefits of stillness, and how they can transform your life.
*Ring* *Ring* There’s your morning alarm. It’s 8:00 a.m., and like clockwork, you have that horrible feeling in the pit of your stomach.
You drag yourself out of bed, dreading the day ahead of you. Coffee will keep you sustained until you drive (or login) to work, and so begins yet another monotonous day. Hey, at least today’s Friday, right? The weekend you live for is just around the corner — something to look forward to after another week of grinding.
But the weekend will fly by with Netflix and errands, and you’ll be back in the same weekly grind that leaves you feeling burnt out and unfulfilled.
Trust me — I know exactly how you’re feeling. I was in a similar cycle for years, doing the same things every day without getting any closer to the happiness I craved. I even wrote a book about it.
I’m Ken Kladouris, and I work in real estate and finance by trade and help people like you break their limiting patterns to find true happiness and financial independence. The key? Meditation and stillness.
Today I’ll share a few reasons why you should start practicing meditation to enjoy all the amazing benefits of stillness. By the time you’re done reading, you’ll also have a helpful resource you can use to go from stillness to success and find true fulfillment in all facets of your life.
4 Reasons Why You Should Practice Stillness
Hang on, what is stillness, and why is it important to be still?
If you’ve ever meditated, you know stillness is the desired result, the feeling of complete clarity, peace, and acceptance of life. You may have experienced stillness during a workout or on a serene nature walk.
Like all lifestyle habits, hobbies, and wellness practices, meditation is just that: a practice, and the more you do it, the easier it becomes to reach stillness. I talk about how to practice stillness every day in this guide.
Below, I’ll share the wonderful benefits of stillness. With these, your life will transform from a mindset of existing through the motions to thriving and savoring every flavor of life.
You’ll Deepen Your Relationship with Yourself
Beyond your profession, obligations, relationships, income, social connections, and pastimes — who are you? When confronting this question a few years ago, I couldn’t easily answer it. My thoughts and day-to-day routines inhabited all the space in my life. Who was I and what did I want beyond the daily minutia?
Meditation teaches you to quiet the noise of exterior distractions and raise the volume of your inner voice, often stifled with unproductive and unkind thoughts. Philosopher Socrates saw this quieting as “purification” when we die. According to philosophy academic Michael Chase, Socrates’s musings about death connect to the spiritual awakening and clarity gained through meditation.
In Plato’s book, Phaedo, Socrates says purification is “separating the soul from the body… gathering it… and living as far as possible both in present and future, released from the chains of the body.”
In meditation, we gather ourselves as well. We take note of the thoughts that pass and let them go, leaving nothing but the truth experienced in the present moment. When we achieve stillness, we release our soul from the world’s noise by turning down the volume, allowing our inner voice to speak up. When we listen, it tells us who we are, and what we want.
From there, everything else settles into place. We have more authentic relationships and conversations, set realistic boundaries, and pursue goals that matter to us on the deepest level with this new awareness.
As Paulo Coelho writes in The Alchemist: “The closer one gets to realizing his Personal Legend, the more that Personal Legend becomes his true reason for being.”
He also says that the universe will conspire to help you achieve what you want most. But you first must quiet the noise to discover what lies within. And meditation helps you do that.
You’ll Become More Adaptable
What did you do the last time you faced a difficult situation? Were you overwhelmed, struggling to know how to react? Did it consume your thoughts and limit your ability to carry out your daily life? Or maybe it made you angry, as you shifted the blame on someone or something before addressing the problem.
Being adaptable to life’s uncertainties is one of the best benefits of stillness, but one of the hardest things for us humans to do. After all, we like predictability; we find comfort in the mundane because it’s safe. But to break through this plateau you may find yourself in, you must stop being okay with what is safe. And this takes practice.
An adaptable person is curious about hard situations and resourceful in finding a solution. Instead of musing on the problem and placing blame, they act strategically.
Meditation helps you become more adaptable and illuminates healthier strategies for facing the unknown or uninvited events that inevitably arise on the roller coaster of life.
Sitting in stillness for 20 minutes or longer isn’t comfortable at first. It’s easy to get distracted, and it takes discipline to avoid getting lost in your thoughts. That same discipline will help you adapt and respond to life’s inevitable peaks and valleys.
You’ll Learn to Let Go
How does the emotional weight you’re carrying feel? I’ll bet it’s heavy. Whether it comes from grief, heartbreak, guilt, anger, or anxiety, we carry heavy emotional baggage. Additionally, we hold onto harmful habits, toxic relationships, and routines that don’t serve us.
Why do we cling so tightly to things that aren’t contributing to greater satisfaction and joy in our life? In short: it’s comforting. What’s uncomfortable is taking a hard look at yourself and releasing the beliefs that you thought made you who you are. Your work ethic, reliability, sense of humor — these are important virtues, but they are external. They aren’t woven in the interior fabric of your soul and purpose.
A release is exactly what’s needed to lead a fulfilling, authentic, and happy life.
Letting go isn’t easy, but that’s one of the benefits of stillness, releasing things that no longer serve you so that you can focus on what matters most. It doesn’t mean you’ll forget where you came from or your hardships — quite the opposite. In stillness, you view your experiences and feelings head-on, and you acknowledge them. Then, you let them go.
That is the soul of the practice of meditation. You let thoughts pass through, honor them, and then let them go. The more you practice stillness, the easier it is to apply this technique to releasing things you no longer wish to hold onto in your life, be they habits, decisions, or sometimes, people.
Unlock True Happiness with Stillness
Stillness teaches us who we are, how to adapt to unpleasant situations, and how to let go. When we achieve stillness, we reap many benefits, within ourselves and throughout other areas of our life. In stillness, you gain the faculty and intention to tackle life’s problems and chart a path that aligns with your true calling and desires.
Are you curious to learn more about stillness? I’ve helped many people like you realize the benefits of stillness in my Stillness to Success Course, which helps you learn how to meditate, unlock your inner strength, and create an actionable plan to help you reach your goals. I hope to see you there!
It’s time to enjoy all the benefits of stillness that you deserve. It’s time to live life on your terms, and no one else’s. If you’re looking for more stillness content, browse the blog to get inspired.
And lastly, I’ll leave you with some wisdom from Nikos Kazantzakis to remember during meditation:
“Since we cannot change reality, let us change the eyes which see reality.”
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