Its easy to lose our reference to what it means to be calm in the first place, what that looks like for us in a very real and personal way. In any given day we are likely to hear (perhaps many times over!), “be calm” or “calm down”, “chill” or some iteration of the above. This just tends to aggravate the situation so lets look a little more at what it means to be calm.
I think a better word is still. Still makes makes it clear that we feel it in the body. A moment of not moving but whats not moving ..
For starters, clearly the mind can be moving even when we feel still so what is it that is still then? We can fall back into this spaciousness of being (that is always still) and let ourselves be carried for a moment, in the recognition that we are the way that we are and that really is ok even if it doesn’t feel that way.
I think this is true calm because in the allowing of what is here in us right now – thoughts, feelings sensations, we can come to rest – attention is anchored in the spacious awareness beyond the confines of beliefs and ideas about how we think things should be.
A little bath in stillness very often also leads to a state of play. And what a wonderful state to exercise on a daily basis. Moments of good old non-directional play, no other outcome other than the game at hand.
In this time of lock down, calm and play can help us keep moving forward through what ever challenges present themselves because we feel resourced and resilient in a game state of mind. From here we can find the often non-linear, life affirming responses that keep us going forward in a good way.