← Read, Watch, Listen

Meditation on Stillness

Audio Dec. 1, 2020
A snowy pastoral scene with farmhouses and buildings in the middle of a large field, snow-covered hills are visible on the horizon
I love the deep silence of the midwinter woods. It is a stillness you can rest your whole weight against. This stillness is so profound you are sure it will hold and last.
Florence Page Jaques

Enjoy this meditation on stillness, paired with Giverny Winter by John Leslie Breck. Follow along with the audio or text below.

Step-by-Step Meditation

  1. Find a comfortable seat where you can sit in stillness for a few minutes.
  2. Look at the winter landscape depicted in this painting. Notice how calm each element of the scene is: the expansive snowy fields in the foreground, the houses in the middle ground, and the trees in the background.
  3. Consider how nature finds stillness in the wintertime: the days become shorter, animals hibernate, and trees rest.
  4. Close your eyes and strive to cultivate the same stillness as a winter landscape.
  5. Slowly scan the body as you sit in stillness, noticing any bits of tension you might be holding on to. Breathe into that space to let go of the tension and relax a little deeper.
  6. Allow your body and mind to rest. Stay in the present moment as much as possible, without planning for the future or thinking about the past.
  7. Move your attention around your body as you meditate on its stillness and calm the mind.