Not a super flexy slender Yoga chick talks "the Power of Stillness"

“The equivalent of external noise is the inner noise of thinking. The equivalent of external silence is inner stillness.” – Eckhart Tolle

It is such a simple truth, and yet we somehow manage to ignore it most of the time. We spend so much energy trying to control the world around us, hoping that if things could just calm down out there, we might finally feel some peace in here. But that is not really how it works, is it?

When was the last time you truly experienced stillness? And I do not mean the five minutes after you convinced your kids to be quiet. I mean the kind of stillness where your thoughts stop sounding like a never-ending episode of the Jerry Springer Show on steroids. Even when you are sitting in a perfectly quiet room, with the neighbors blissfully silent, the children occupied, the TV off, and no traffic outside, somehow the mind keeps chattering.

We live in a time where silence is almost extinct. The TV blares in restaurants, music hums in the background of every shop, cars are tuned to be louder than they need to be, phones never stop pinging, and people seem to have endless things to say. Stillness does not come naturally anymore. Our minds are like over-caffeinated raccoons dancing to Raffaella Carrà’s “Pedro Pedro Pedro.” And have you noticed the circus act always begins precisely when you are looking for peace? The moment you get into bed, your brain reminds you of 12,569 things you forgot to do. The moment you roll out your Yoga mat, your mind decides now is the perfect time to replay every embarrassing thing you have done since 1998.

This constant mental noise is exhausting. Thoughts consume energy, and most of them are not even helpful. The truth is, it is rare these days to find real quiet, let alone inner stillness. And yet, stillness is not about forcing your mind to shut up (good luck with that). If you have tried to command your thoughts to be quiet, you have probably learned they do not take orders well. Instead, think of stillness as watching clouds drift across the sky. You do not need to chase them away; you just let them pass until you have a clear view again, even if it only lasts a moment.

When you drop beneath the surface chatter, you find a spacious awareness that feels like coming home to yourself. This awareness has always been there, waiting patiently while you wrestle with your to-do list. It is not something you have to earn, it is your natural state. And the more you spend time here, the less you will need life to be perfect before you can feel at peace.

In Yoga, stillness is a practice, not a reward for getting everything right. We use it to train the mind to settle, so that when life gets chaotic (and it will), we have an anchor. Over time, it makes you less reactive, more present, and more able to notice the beauty that has been sitting right in front of you.

Stillness brings your whole system back to balance, physically, mentally, spiritually, and energetically. It is a homecoming, a return to your real Self. When you stop engaging with the noise, you realize your essence has always been peaceful. You do not have to try to be calm; you just have to remember you already are.

So the next time your thoughts start performing their usual acrobatics, see if you can smile at them. Let them flip and twirl without joining in. Beneath all that noise, there is a quiet presence that is never disturbed. That is who you really are.

If you want to try it now, sit somewhere comfortable and start counting 4, 3, 2, 1 over and over. Notice how quickly a thought pops up to interrupt. When it does, simply start again. Keep it short at first, maybe two minutes. If you make it through, call it a victory and celebrate accordingly. Every moment of stillness counts.