I’m delighted to have Debrena Jackson Gandy as my guest today. She’s a transformational speaker, workshop leader, business consultant,
personal growth coach, and best-selling author of Sacred Pampering
Principles and All the Joy You Can Stand.

It can start from the moment you wake up in the morning – the irritating buzz and “rude awakening” by your alarm clock or cell phone alarm. Then you may turn on the TV or the CD player, run water for a bath or shower, turn on the faucet at the sink to brush your teeth, or flush the toilet. And the immersion in sounds and noises continues throughout your day, virtually non-stop. When you add this to the news or music you listen to while in the car, the sound of car horns, the drone of the traffic, or the wail of police or ambulance sirens, it amounts to being pummeled with too much noise, and too many images. Sensory overload – and it’s not even 10:00am yet! You combine this with the voice mail, e-mail, text messages, chatter in the office, and meetings that will probably be confronting you when you get to work, and it’s enough to make your head spin.

??Too much stimulation jams our mental, emotional and spiritual “circuits,” and can cause us to enter into spiritual gridlock.

Too much stimulation keeps us out of touch with the inner voice of our intuition, and distracts us from being present to the blessings and miracles that are all around us. This is why, in this high-tech, fast-paced, stressed out culture in which we live, we are in need of quiet, stillness, moments to disengage, to exhale and to give our minds, bodies and spirits a much-needed break. Yes, we can set goals and be in constant action, but can we also sit still, clear our minds, and relish the non-action and the non-activity??

For many of us this is a challenge because our lives have become so wired for being on the go-go-go??.

When I began integrating more quiet into my life, I had to begin with baby steps, by PRACTICING being still a little at a time. I started with five minutes a day, and now I am up to twenty. We help our minds, bodies and spirits move into a state of relaxation and quiet by using the power of the breath. Most of us take breathing for granted and don’t pay much attention to this automatic process. But if you become more present to our in and out breaths and learn how to regulate our breathing, we can move ourselves into a state of inner peace and quiet-even in the midst of craziness and chaos. ??

Right now, you can begin practicing……… Sit comfortably in a chair or stretch on your bed or couch. Close your eyes and inhale slowly to the count of 3 while thinking to yourself “I inhale peace, warmth and love, and exhale to the count of 3 while thinking to yourself, “I exhale stress, tension, and worry.” Let your forehead relax…Drop your shoulders…Relax the muscles in your legs and thighs. Repeat this process 3 times. Then just sit or lay still for several more minutes. Practice extending this quiet time to 10, 15 and 20 minutes or longer. You may want to keep a journal for 30 days, making note of how you feel after your quiet time. ??

Quiet is a powerful presence that can make a huge difference in our lives. In the quiet, we can hear messages from our intuition, we can receive messages from what we acknowledge as our Higher Power, we can have heightened clarity, our senses are more attuned, and we can receive solutions to challenges we’ve been facing. In the quiet, we can start to become more aware of our bodies, and we can begin to have greater appreciation for each additional breath and each additional heartbeat.

??Today, in little ways, begin integrating more quiet into your life.

Turn off the TV, leave the car radio turned off, turn off your cell phone and have a silent commute. In our household, during the school year, we have two days a week that my daughters, ages 17, 15, and 12 fast from TV. The TV is kept off from 3:30pm until bedtime. You might want to try a TV fast in your household, even if it is a household without children, and even if you live alone.

Or do a home phone fast – turn off the ringer between 6:00pm and 8:00pm, and let the calls to go voice mail or get answered by your answering machine. Pay attention to the affect it has on your moods, emotions and state of mind. Start your day with 10 minutes of stillness and quiet time and notice the difference in your day and in your ability to get centered and remained centered. And most importantly, the affect it has on your spirit.

??I invite you to enjoy a “diet of quiet.”
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??For more about Debrena Jackson Gandy, Check out her site, Million Dollar Mentor. She can be reached at Debrena@MillionDollarMentor.net