by Connie Habash | Jan 24, 2024 | Peace, Silence, stillness, Winter
Wintertime has many spiritual gifts for us; perhaps the greatest are opportunities to be still and quiet, teaching us the way to inner peace.
What speaks to you in the quiet of Winter? What do you hear in the pause between the gusts of wind, blowing the last of the leaves from the trees? In that place of silence, we hear our own heart, and our soul, speaking softly. We hear the gentle, quiet voice of the Divine, if we allows ourselves to listen. In order to listen, we need to slow down and become still and quiet.
Wintertime is indeed a time to be still. We take our cues from nature – everything has gone dormant. All life composts its old self, allowing what no longer is vital to die away, sitting and waiting quietly. But waiting has a purpose. These plants and animals are going deep inside to conserve their resources, find new life within, and to build up energy for the growth of spring.
There are many great lessons for us in winter. The importance of stillness, silence, and going deep inside is of great value to our own journey of growth. It’s hard for us to comprehend and value stillness and inner peace in our culture. The western world is based on the external, superficial, and excessive activity that business, work, hectic family schedules, deadlines, and “making it” emphasize.
How many of us have run at that hectic pace until we simply burned out? If we never had a wintertime, our planet would experience the same thing. Nature knows that a time of rest and reflection is essential to growth and well-being, even if it looks stagnant in the short term.
Can you stand, still and quiet like a tree in winter, and listen to the Spirit within? Can you sit, like the Buddha under the Bodhi tree, and feel the peace of unmoving presence? Without the times of stillness, motion loses its impact. It is in these moments of stillness and silence that we awaken, that we sense the quality of peace most palpably, and we deepen our connection to each other. I am reminded of the aftermath of 9/11, when there was a moment of silence around the world, seeing images of every major city during that moment, people of all creeds standing still and quiet. Honoring what we share, which is our humanity.
Beyond our differences in language, religion, culture, race, gender, and sexuality, we share the silence. The Divine Presence is beyond words. You can join nature in its meditation on that inner stillness. What you discover in that silent moment will connect you to all other beings. As we deepen into the wintertime, let’s remember that inner connection to consciousness… still, quiet, peaceful, and ever present.
Want to feel more inner peace and find the silence within? Spiritual mentoring can support you in your awakening.
by Connie Habash | Aug 5, 2020 | fulfillment, Nature, Patience, Quiet, stillness, Time
Feeling stressed and short on time? The best way to shift out of overwhelm and find fulfillment is to stop completely, unplug outdoors, and open up to timelessness.
It was a Thursday morning, and I had just dropped off my daughter at her internship at a nature preserve. The perfect time for me to visit the lake at Foothills Park, just 5 minutes away. I relished the idea of alone time outdoors.
No Cell Phone!
The problem – I didn’t have my cell phone. My daughter had left hers at home, so I gave her mine just in case she needed to reach my husband. I won’t be able to take photos (on this visit, but I went back the next week for the photos you see here!) and worst of all, I won’t be able to keep an eye on the time. Luckily, I didn’t have plans for the day, so what did it really matter?
Boronda lake is near the park entrance – just a short drive down on the left. I stopped at the first dock and parked. It was a perfect morning – the sun gently shining and only one other person in sight. The dock was happily empty and beckoning to me.
I walked slowly over to the edge of the lake and waited. It helps to approach natural areas mindfully, so the wildlife is less likely to scatter. Juncos were softly perusing the grass for seeds with their chip-chip calls, but they moved aside for me. Three female mallards were stepping into the water as I approached, but much as I wanted them to stay, they entered and paddled off silently. So I stepped onto the dock, walked to the end, and sat down next to the edge.
The water was amazingly clear – I could see to the shallow bottom and the plants growing beneath, which I recognized from another pond at a camp my daughter and I used to attend. Then, I heard the sound of a red-tailed hawk on the other side of the lake. Was that one in a tree up high on the hill? I saw a dark spot in the foliage and wondered. But maybe it’s just a gap in the branches, showing the shadow behind it – too far away to tell. How could I know? I’d have to wait to find out.
An Opportunity Without Time Constraints
I had wanted to walk around the lake, but I was intrigued by the possible raptor – I really wanted to know if it was sitting there in the tree, and watch it take off. So I decided to be still and wait. This was my opportunity to have a nice long “sit spot” – one of my favorite deep nature connection practices that deepens my experience of Presence. I often do “sit spot” in my front yard at home, but being so close to my computer and all the “to-dos” of the day makes my sit-spots a bit on the short side. This would be a blessed, leisurely immersion away from the constraints of time.
I expanded my senses and heard the Nuttal’s woodpecker in the trees behind me to the right, and the chitter of a hummingbird on my left side. Then, I peered down in the water and watched for signs of fish. At first, there were just guppy-looking tiny fish, swimming in and out of the shelter of the swaying green” parrot’s feather” plants. I waited quietly some more; much to my surprise, a considerably larger silver fish swam into view. Wow! You really could fish here.
Over near the cattails on my left, a black bird with a lighter beak swam along like a duck – I later decided it was an American Coot. It dove into the water for long periods, and I started to count – 13, 14, 15 seconds – and it popped up several feet away. What fun! The ducks took some interest in me, and now I saw that there was a mother and two slightly smaller juveniles. They swam by within 3 feet of me, looking cautiously into my eyes.
My Vigil Served a Better Purpose
What time is it? I didn’t know, but I kept constant vigil on the tree across the lake with the dark spot, still hearing the occasional call of a red tail. It hadn’t moved. My mind went into a debate about whether I was imaging it or not. I waited some more, eager to see it take off. But my vigil served a better purpose.
The truth was, it didn’t matter if the hawk was there. The curiosity about it was simply the impetus for me to stay and drop into timelessness. I didn’t know how long I was sitting there, and I didn’t care. More fish swam through the plants, one jumped out of the water about 20 feet away, and then, to my delight, a turtle ambled by! Visits from more ducks, the gentle breeze on my face, and the warm sun brought a peaceful joy. A bullfrog caught my attention with it’s croaking in the reeds on my right. Swallows zoomed over the lake in wide arcs, snatching up bugs close to the water’s surface. I could sit on the deck all day and immerse in the unfolding stories of the animals.
The excuse of waiting for the hawk (that never launched from the tree – likely just a play of light and shadow) and the lack of a cell phone shifted me out of distraction and the perception of time. Being without a device was such a blessing. I dropped into the ease and delight of the present moment, just being with the ripples on the water, the paddling of the ducks, and the sweet sounds of the chickadees behind me on the shore.
Timelessness is Deeply Fulfilling – and Available if We Choose
At some point, I was ready to abandon the hawk mystery. It was time to leave. But it didn’t come from checking the clock; I felt filled by the sense of timelessness from simply sitting quietly outside and receiving all that nature had to offer. There was so much beauty and simplicity – what more did I really need?
Upon returning to the car, I saw that I had been there an hour. I was amazed at all I saw, heard, and felt in that period of time, and noted how deeply fulfilled I was. When I am pressured by checking the clock and looking on my device, I miss so much, and at the end of the day, I don’t feel this kind of ease. Having a long, magical “sit spot” at this beautiful place – without the pressure of time – was more than enough, though, to renew me. Back at home, I felt re-inspired and ready to write and create.
I realized that timelessness is always available to us, if we make the time to receive and experience it, away from all the things that fill up the hours of the day. Will you take the time this week to step away from the clock and devices, and receive? Share your story here.
by Connie Habash | Mar 20, 2014 | Awareness, Centered, Mindfulness, Now, Presence, stillness
I have this painting you see here on my stairway. It’s a print of a watercolor of my spiritual teacher, Amma. I fell in love with it a few years ago, and knew it would look lovely on the landing of our stairs.
Every day, as I descend the 7 steps at the top of our staircase, I pause facing her image. Her eyes are closed and she has radiance beaming from her third eye in the center of her forehead. She holds her hands reverently, just above her solar plexus, in some sort of mudra – similar to folding them in prayer, but the tips of the little and index fingers touch.
Every time I come down the stairs, I take a few moments to pause with her image. I, too, close my eyes, and take a mindful breath. I put my hands in the mudra, and imagine the light at my 6th chakra. I silence my mind, if only for a moment.
This practice gives me mindful pauses to become present throughout the day. As I am going up and downstairs, toting baskets of laundry, I stop and breathe. When I first come downstairs in the morning for breakfast, I pause and come into the moment. I am reminded of what is truly important. I feel refreshed.
You, too, can create a special place in your home to help you practice more presence and stillness. Find an image that deeply touches your soul. It can be a painting, photo, statue, crystal, or a candle – anything that stands out to you that you can put in a prominent place, one that you’ll pass by regularly throughout the time you are at home.
Make it a practice to stop, even if just for one breath, be still, and feel your Divine self. Let your thoughts wash away with your exhale. Allow yourself to feel free and open right now. Know that this moment is a good moment. Receive the Divine Light. This will refresh you and keep you focused on your spiritual path.
Where in your home can you create that sacred place to pause and be present?
by Connie Habash | Apr 24, 2013 | Beauty, Expression, Growth, Movement, Patience, Peace, Quiet, Rebirth, Seasons, Spring, stillness
Nature reflects to us the process of personal and spiritual transformation all around us. In my classes, with my clients, and in spiritual community I honor and invite all to explore the profound affect these natural changes have on each of us.
Spring, the season we’re currently in, and summer are both times of longer daylight – hence, the energies around and within us are externally focused. It’s all about taking what is within you and finding ways of expressing it in the world.
Spring is new beginnings, where we burst forth from the gestation of the colder time of the year and feel ready for new adventures. We explore who we are becoming and we reinvent ourselves anew. It’s a good time to step into something you’ve toyed with for a while. It’s also a good time to listen to new perspectives and see the world in a fresh way.
Summer is taking those explorations to a new height. It’s the time of ripening. While spring encouraged us to step out into new territory, summer is prime-time for play and celebration of our success and our finer qualities. Allow yourself to authentically and radiantly shine, just like the sun. Recognize your gifts and share them freely, just as nature’s bounty blesses us with the fruits of the season.
At the end of summer we begin to feel the down-shift into a more introspective time. We enter the growing nighttime, and so, too, we enter the unconscious. Fall takes us away from the externally-focused energies of exuberant summertime and asks us to pause and consider what we feel, who we are, and to reminisce. We revisit the past during autumn to integrate, grieve, reflect, and heal.
Which takes us at last to winter, the coldest and most inward time. This is the great stillness; nature is quiet, hibernating. We, too, have been called by the inner silence to find peace with what is. We embrace our inner wisdom that we have gained from the four seasons of life, and let it gestate into something which we will share with the world. Winter is a time of the Spirit, peace, and patience.
Each season offers us new opportunities to understand ourselves and the world we live in. I facilitate that greater journey for every person I work with, as they are touched by what the season offers. What is this season offering you today?
by Connie Habash | Mar 4, 2013 | Beauty, Grounded, Meditation, Oneness, Potential, Quiet, stillness, Uncategorized
Outside my home office window, two majestic trees stand in my front yard. One, a large old California live oak, stands broad and substantial, spreading its thick branches out around it. The other, a pine tree, is more erect and stately, shooting straight up with several branches near the top, reaching in all directions with green needles.
Although they appear different, they both have that “tree energy”. Their roots go deep into the ground to connect with the earth. This gives them stability, strength, and nourishment. They stand in silence, unmoved, save for a breeze or the commotion of two squirrels frolicking in their branches. They are undeterred by weather or the cars that pass by on the road. And their branches endlessly reach for the heavens above, opening to the light of the sun.
I want to meditate like those trees. I want to root down to something so deep and stable within that I am unmoved, my focus steady and unwavering. When I’m rooted that firmly, and my mind becomes as quiet and still as a tree no matter what may be happening around me, I know it will be easier to receive Divine Light.
Sit with your back to the trunk of a tree. Be one with it. Let it show you what a tree knows.
Wintertime has many spiritual gifts for us; perhaps the greatest are opportunities to be still and quiet, teaching us the way to inner peace.
I have this painting you see here on my stairway. It’s a print of a watercolor of my spiritual teacher, Amma. I fell in love with it a few years ago, and knew it would look lovely on the landing of our stairs.
Nature reflects to us the process of personal and spiritual transformation all around us. In my classes, with my clients, and in spiritual community I honor and invite all to explore the profound affect these natural changes have on each of us.
Outside my home office window, two majestic trees stand in my front yard. One, a large old California live oak, stands broad and substantial, spreading its thick branches out around it. The other, a pine tree, is more erect and stately, shooting straight up with several branches near the top, reaching in all directions with green needles.
