Universal Law of Stillness

This is your reading for Friday, November 13th/15.  Your card slipped out of the 'Universal Laws of Conscious Creation' fractal card deck, authored by Lara Solara, Dana da Ponte, and Marlene Chapman.  Your card is 'Universal Law of Stillness', and the author's message for the card is this:
"The Law of Stillness states that, in its unexpressed state, the consciously intelligent essence that permeates all life is still and static.  The individual mind can harmonize with the infinite mind by entering this still and static place.  In this state, you are receptive to inspiration, intuition, and spontaneous problem-solving.  Thought is naturally active and dynamic, but a mind constantly busy with thought creates tension and disharmony.  The most powerful creative state is a relaxed state.  You experience stillness when you are feeling relaxed.  In order to feel utterly relaxed you must be in a state of complete trust and surrender.  Stillness also enable you to observe what you are thinking.  As an observer, you can pick and choose what you want to think about and how you want to feel.  When you are still, you are simply being.  The message of this law is to quiet your mind, relax, and let go. Slow down, unwind, and practise non-doing.  Learn how to observe and govern your thoughts by practising the art of stillness."

My message for you today is this:
As I was typing up the message from the authors for you, it came to me that 'stillness' is really a misnomer---often times, we may find the stillness in our minds, when our body is moving!  We hold this preconception that in order to still the mind, and find that 'zen' place; we must be sitting cross-legged or in the lotus position and 'don't think, don't move'!  I have come to the realization that often times, it is easiest to 'still the mind' when I am walking in my coulee, and I am not ACTIVELY STRIVING TO STILL MY MIND!  That is to say, that in order to still your mind, let go of striving to still your mind as though it were a task you must complete!  TRUST and SURRENDER are the key words shared in the message from the authors of this deck.  Dan Millman--author of the 'Way of the Peaceful Warrior' series of books (whom I had the great good fortune of seeing as a speaker at the recent Celebrate Your Life conference here in Phoenix)--spoke to us in his presentation about how competitors in sports are most successful when they are in 'the zone', wherein they still the mind and surrender to their natural state of being, trusting that their body will move as it has been trained to and allowing themselves to embrace the flow of that.  I am paraphrasing Dan Millman here, but essentially he spoke to how there is actually 'stillness' within when an athlete is competing optimally at the highest level. It is that 'zen'/still place, where the mind is quieted and you are not bombarded by 'thought', that athletes become 'addicted' to...the peacefulness of it.  So, my message for you today is to understand that achieving that state of stillness of the mind is done differently for different people.  Many find 'stillness of the mind' while engaging in yoga poses. My friend Jaden finds one of his most receptive, creative places is while working out in the gym with rock music blaring in the background. My friend Lynda is a runner, and it is 'peaceful' and 'still' for her when she is running in nature.  I am most certain that my friend Patti dropped into a beautiful moment of stillness when she was out on her waverunner yesterday and had the dolphins cresting and jumping around her---no 'thought's' in her head about 'to do' lists at that moment in time---just complete and utter awe and gratitude! 
Another message that comes to mind for you today is that---even as we are definitely growing more aware of the need for stillness in today's society, we are often so engaged in multi-media that we don't fully embrace the opportunities for stillness that present themselves---we are bombarded with it!  Listen...I am MOST grateful for Skype and cell phones and texting and WhatsApp messenging and all of those technological advancements that have gifted me with the ability to communicate freely with my children who were living all those miles away in Brazil!  However, we have allowed these 'tools' to overtake our lives to the point that people are so attached to their cell phones that they can't put them aside and allow themselves to 'be in the moment'!  How many times do we now see people together, each checking out their cell phones, rather than being in the moment with the person right in front of them?  How sad is that?  It is a new type of distraction from being in the present moment, I feel...and I would even go so far as to say, a new addiction for some people.  It is up to US to make the conscious decision to make our cell phones and multi-media enhance our lives, rather than to take away from it.  The multi-media that is available to us CAN distract us from and pull us out of stillness, if we allow it to.  Utilize your cell phone/email/facebook etc. as a means of CONNECTION, rather than as a means of DISCONNECTION.  Be present with what is actually in front of you!  Allow yourself to actually embrace moments of stillness rather than to distract yourself away from them.  It is in the moments of stillness that you most poignantly experience your connection to Self and the Divine... 
Blessed be...