NaKojnu podcast

Every choice you make, where you decide to not embrace silence and stillness. You take another step backwards. You can be "doing everything right," but if you're deficient in silence, you're not getting the most of your interventions. I'm using technology as the major culprit here, because it is the most obvious and most harmful. But this can be tied to many concepts on top — eating processed foods, drugs and alcohol, overexercising, overworking, overthinking, or even too much reading or writing. Think of the lives our ancestors would have lived previously. Think of what the days were filled with. Even a few decades ago, there was opportunity for silence. We can also be inspired by observing other animals besides humans, there's a lot to learn from them. They are completely present in the moment; they do not worry about the past or future; there's no concept of forgiveness because they don't hold grudges; and they are in silence or stillness for endless hours of the day. They live in an abundance in silence. "If an animal could answer the question 'What time is it?' It would say NOW. There is no other time than NOW." This layers into the idea that embracing the present moment puts you directly into a state of inner silence because every single thought you have is related to the past or future. This is very important. You cannot generate thoughts when you're in the absolute present. So when I say silence. I don't simply mean you are sitting and doing nothing whilst the mind continuously wanders and is preoccupied (although it's beneficial and makes you head into the right direction). You need to make the mind quiescent with minimal thinking — and that requires practice and discipline. I will include some advice below to help with this, allowing you to unlock the deepest of physical, emotional, and spiritual capabilities that you didn't think were possible. Here's some things to try and incorporate: - Set aside 10 minutes of your day (building upwards in duration) to literally sit and have nothing planned besides being. Try to minimize your thoughts, but at the same time be the observer of your internal body and the external world around you. A trick I like to leverage here is to listen to the sounds of nature — perhaps the sound of trees moving or a bird chirping — and tune into the silence in between the sounds. - Layer on any of the meditations I've outlined HERE and HERE as an excellent entry level to training the mind - Incorporate a tech-detox once a month — where you go 1 or 2 days without any technology whatsoever. This is a time to be embracing that stillness and silence as much as you can. - Have intention and presence in everything you do, feel the energy of the Earth nourishing you and grounding you (my Dan Tien meditation, alongside Qigong practices aid in comprehending this), which anchors you in whatever you're doing, which in itself, also helps create silence in daily activities. - Eat your meals without checking your phone, exercise without listening to something, and when you wind down for sleep don't check your phone or watch a TV show. Instead, be present with the meal with every bite, literally feel the food nourishing you. Feel your muscles and fascia stretching and contracting with every movement. Feel your weight on the bed and its gravitational pull towards the heart of Mother Earth, making you feel nourished, safe, and grounded. - Layer the idea of presence with everything you do with intention. As you walk, be present and notice the colours, scents, and temperature; as you cook/prepare food, be present with the aromas of the ingredients, preparing them, and cooking them; and so on.