Stillpoint: From CST (Cranio Sacral Therapy), a stillpoint is a gradual slowing of the craniosacral rhythm, allowing the body to move out of a stress response and supporting the parasympathetic nervous system (sometimes referred to as the restorative nervous system) to come into dominance and re-balance.**

 

Once or twice each day, I do a walk-through on our farm, often as a short break between client calls.

Zipping down the hill, I peek in the nesting boxes to grab freshly laid eggs, while confirming that all the birds remain safe and contented.

A short cruise through the barn, a glance at the ram paddock to be sure gates and fences are still holding (they aren’t always when hormones run high), then it’s off to the grazing areas to check ewes and goats.

After a hurried head count and a scan for any signs of trouble, I’m back up the hill, often at a semi-jog, to land back at my desk.

After a few moments to catch my breath, it’s back to business as usual.

But that changed recently when my body refused to be hurried. Or pushed. Or coerced in any way.

So, I shifted gears and ambled instead of striding out.  I chose to mosey instead of gallop.

As I reached the pasture, the sheep and goats were enjoying a nap in the warm morning sun and I thought wistfully, “It would be lovely to lie in the sun for a bit.”

It was one of those moments here on the farm when, miraculously, everyone gets quiet at the same time.

No guineas or chickens fussing. No peacocks trumpeting.

With very little breeze, the stillness seemed immense, wrapping around me and expanding, stretching out and away…forever.

The stillness was so big, it would not be refused.

I sank down to sit beside Abigail, one of the napping ewes, and soaked in that delicious, expansive quietness, so abundantly, generously on offer in the moment.

One thing you may not know about sheep unless you get still with them: They are very energetically contained creatures.

Unlike our goats, who shout their energy out into the world, bouncing and dancing with it, demanding you meet them in their active energy, sheep – in their default (un-stressed) state – tend to be mellow.

Quiet. Still.

As I sat there on the ground next to Abby, first one and then another of the ewes drifted over to engage.

Eventually, sheep surrounded me, some asking for nose bumps or neck scratches, but mostly just there, quietly self-contained in the stillness of the moment.

There was no shoving or pushing, and no one stepped on me.

They stood around me in a ring…breathing.

I breathed with them.

And found, in that stretching moment of stillness and quietness, and the soft breathing of sheep, the stillpoint I had not known I was craving.

 

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We all need still points, those spaces within which our nervous systems can step down from what has become a chronically habituated state of stress.

Finding your stillpoints:

Create stillpoint experiences for yourself.

• To anchor the experience in your body, you may need assistance at first. Find someone skilled at this, who can help you learn to identify your stillpoint state.
• Practice self-observation and attunement so you can discern the more subtle indicators of stress – or stillpoint.
• Learn how to self-regulate your nervous system to calm stress responses, especially deeply ingrained responses.
• Use nature if you can. Studies show many humans, especially city-dwellers, are disconnected from nature. Check out online articles on forest bathing in Japan, as one example.
• Find community that helps you build capacities for your stillpoint, for moving progressively away from outdated cultural patterns perpetuating chronic stress responses.

How I can help:

• Subscribe below or follow me on LinkedIn to be sure you get the latest from The Peaceful Achiever newsletter.
• Watch for an upcoming announcement on the launch of the Peaceful Achiever podcast

Curious about what it means to be a Peaceful Achiever, or how you build the inner capacities needed? Wondering how to best support yourself with walking the Peaceful Achiever’s path – and having more consistently accessible stillpoints in your life? Contact me to schedule a discovery conversation where, together, we explore what serves you best. 

 This article is in service to your stillpoints: May you always have easy access to those expansive moments of internal reset and restoration, and the delicious possibilities awaiting you there.