SOUL Rest

SOUL rest.

My lungs involuntarily flood with oxygen ~ hold it there a bit ~ and then slowly release just thinking the words.

Vital to wellness.  Essential to creativity.  Sustenance for the spirit.

Voluntarily allowing anxiety to slip from the self… deliberately rolling the shoulders to dislodge the heavy weight… realizing the relief of surrendering to the still.

Music to my ears.  Surrendering to the Still.

No need for a hot-stone massage or a vacation in the mountains.

{You just have to be.  And listen.  And wait.}

Hard to do.  Never enough time.  Too much of an indulgence.

Right?

Last Sunday morning, actually by accident ~ and to escape the political talking heads on TV ~ I clicked off the tube and tumbled into an unexpected SOUL rest.

I took a deep breath, savoring the quiet.

I had about 30 minutes before I needed to get dressed for church, and the silence was so nice, I just sat there with my hot tea… and sat there… and sat there.

Before I knew it, an amazing thing happened.

I could feel the stress leave my body.

{The subtle input from my senses became louder than the barrage of the background}.

If you’ll listen to the silence, it’s astounding what you’ll hear.

The gently tinkling wind chime outside the bedroom window.  The songs of the birds greeting the dawn.  The chiming of the church bells just down the block.  The feel of a soft, cashmere throw on bare toes.  The sun’s rays slanting down through the blinds onto the gently mussed bedspread.  The rumpled fur of a pup, sleeping soundly within reach.

It was HEAVEN.

So heaven, in fact, that I gave myself permission to play hooky from church and opted instead to worship in my own silent sanctuary.

Slowing down, focusing on breathing, just listening.

Manna for the soul.

It was so addictive, I stayed right there in that spot all morning and a good bit of the afternoon!

Silence

It has a sound, a fullness.

It’s heavy with sigh of tree,

and space between breaths.

It’s ripe with pause between birdsong

and crash of surf.

It’s golden they say.

But no one tells us it’s addictive.

~ Angela Long

{Stillness and soul-whisperings invite the best, most authentic, self to emerge}.

When it does, you realize just how much you like it {your real self, that is}.

I spent time reading, praying, forcing myself to just be… consciously owning the present moment.

Silence the surroundings, claim the contentment.

Freedom for the taking, just enter the silence.

Shhh…. Can you hear them?

Soul-whisperings, gradually rising to the surface…