I just caught the tail end of Eat, Pray, Love on TV.

Just as I tuned in, Julia Roberts was cycling through the rice paddies of Bali. It brought me back to my time in Ubud during my yoga teacher training. My homeboy and I rented a house in the paddies. There was no TV, no internet, no music, just us and the symphony of birds that shared our space. It was peaceful, and quiet.

Every morning at 5:30 a.m., we would get up he would and scoot me to the training. The sun would just be coming up and the birds would just be starting their song and we would be sleepy and all seemed just as it should.

In this quiet, I had moments of clarity. Through stillness I started to get the teeniest glimpse of my true self. On the last day of training, while in savasana, our instructor Vidya placed a card next to each of our mats. Mine was “Be Quiet.” Here’s what it says.

Be Quiet

The mind’s engagement with activity is noise.
Which prevents us from being at peace and knowing the truth.
The easiest and most direct way to know truth is simply to be quiet, not engage the mind and remain in present awareness.
When the mind wanders to the past or future, gently refocus back to the present moment.
This card is a call to change your focus beyond this noise of mind.
It is a quest to simply be in consciousness.
In peace, finding truth and beauty, the answer to your questions lies in Being Quiet.

I’m going through quite a period of transition in my life right now and have a lot of questions running through my mind. As I go through the day trying to figure it all out, there is a lot of noise filling my space and I can’t hear the answers.

I need to remind myself to slow down, to be still, to be quiet and it will come.

~peace

~

Editor: Kate Bartolotta

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